Ruth,  the  Christian  Scientist, 


OR, 


THE    NEW    HYGEIA. 


BY 


JOHN    CHKSTKR,    M.D.,   D.D., 


AUTHOR    OF 

"EARTHLY  WATCHERS  AT  THE  HEAVENLY  GATES.' 


BOSTON: 

H.    H.    CARTER   &   KARRICK,    PUBLISHERS, 
3  BEACON  STREET, 
1888. 


Copyright,  1888,  by  JOHN  CHESTER. 


PRESSWORK  BY  BERWICK  *  SMITH,  BOSTON. 


PREFACE. 


When  Sir  William  Hamilton  wrote  on  the  walls  of 
his  class-room,  "On  earth  there  is  nothing  great  but 
man,  in  man  there  is  nothing  great  but  mind,"  he 
affirmed  what  few  will  dispute,  yet  what  few  appreciate. 
Nor  is  there  any  mental  phenomena  more  interesting 
than  those  connected  with  the  relations  of  the  mind  to 
the  body.  Our  leading  physiologists  freely  admit  that 
the  power  of  the  mind  in  preventing,  or  even  curing 
disease,  has  not  yet  been  fully  ascertained. 

One  of  the  latest  theories,  on  the  influence  of  certain 
moral  and  mental  conditions  on  the  body,  is  a  form 
of  mental  Therapeutics  for  which  its  votaries  claim  the 
name  of  Christian  Science.  This  at  the  present  time  is 
attracting  a  wide-spread  attention  in  this  country.  In 
an  age  in  which  Materialism  has  boldly  proclaimed 
thought  to  be  merely  an  exudation  from  the  brain,  and 
in  a  country  which,  as  an  acknowledged  medical 
authority  declares,  is  the  most  drug-consuming  nation 
on  earth,  it  is  not  surprising  that  many  are  attracted  by 
a  theory  which  exalts  the  spiritual  over  the  material, 
and  proposes  to  emancipate  the  race  from  pills  and 
powders,  bleedings  and  blisterings. 

This  "  Christian  Science "  has  usually  been  treated 
with  ill-advised  panegyric  or  bitter  ridicule.  The  author 


936716 


4  PREFACE. 

desires  to  avoid  both  these  extremes.  While  giving  it 
credit  for  directing  attention  to  a  field  of  thought  de 
serving  careful  investigation,  and  for  striving  to  connect 
suffering  humanity  with  the  Source  of  all  Life,  he  is  not 
prepared  to  admit  that  it  can  be  so  generally  applied 
that  mankind  will  no  longer  need  healing  drugs  or 
surgical  appliances.  That  the  "Christian  Scientists" 
have  wrought  wonderful  cures  can  be  substantiated  by 
examples  from  the  living,  but  that  they  have  sometimes 
failed  can  be  equally  substantiated  by  examples  from 
the  dead ;  this,  however,  is  true  of  all  systems  of 
medicine.  The  vital  questions  suggested  by  what  de 
serves  the  name  of  Christian  Science  are,  whether  an 
intelligent  Christian  faith  could  not  be  more  utilized  in 
the  healing  of  the  body,  and  whether  a  large  class  of 
diseases,  now  treated  wholly  with  drugs,  could  not  be 
better  treated  by  the  practitioner  availing  himself  of 
that  wonderful  power  of  mind  over  body,  which  the 
Creator  has  Himself  established.  Indeed,  the  works  of 
physiologists,  who  are  considered  standard  authorities 
in  all  medical  schools,  record  cases  of  physical  cure 
through  mental  action  that  equal  any  cures  claimed 
by  Christian  Scientists.  Some  of  these  have  suggested 
the  incidents  related  in  this  novel,  and,  as  they  may  tax 
the  faith  of  the  reader,  the  author  has  fortified  them  by 
references  to  foot-notes,  where  parallel  cases  are  cited 
from  Carpenter,  Tuke,  Abercrombie,  etc.,  and  where 
similar  principles  are  expounded  by  Sir  Benjamin 
Brodie,  Sir  William  Hamilton  and  Dr.  Hammond.  The 
largest  draft  on  the  reader's  faith  will  probably  be  the 
case  of  Stigmatization  (Chap.  20).  The  possibility  of 


PREFACE.  5 

this,  however,  he  will  find  sustained  by  like  cases 
reported  by  some  of  the  ablest  physiologists  of  America 
and  Europe. 

In  "  Ruth  "  the  author  has  striven  to  represent  fairly 
the  views  of  Christian  Scientists ;  indeed,  the  words  put 
in  her  mouth  have  been  largely  taken  from  their  most 
accepted  writers.  In  "  Esther "  is  represented  the 
views  of  a  kindred  belief, —  Faith  Healing;  in  "Dr. 
Strong  "  the  ultra-materialists  of  the  medical  profession. 
If  the  mind  of  the  reader  should  be  set  a-thinking  about 
these  wonderful  relations  of  mind  to  body,  and  the 
power  of  the  Great  Physician,  our  novel  may  not  be 
without  its  mission. 


RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   PECULIAR   CASE   OF  MISS   ALICE   DUPONT. 

"  I  really  must  do  something  desperate,"  cried  Alice, 
as,  looking  into  the  glass,  she  beheld  a  reflection  of 
herself  which  wounded  her  vanity  and  awakened  her 
fears. 

"  Do  something  desperate !  "  exclaimed  her  father, 
"  why,  Alice,  you  have  been  doing  something  desperate 
long  enough ;  now,  I  propose  to  do  something  sensible, 
that  is,  to  have  a  consultation  of  four  of  our  ablest 
physicians,  and  let  them  determine  what  really  is  the 
matter  with  you." 

"  You  had  better  summon  twelve  at  once,"  answered 
Alice,  cynically,  "  for,  after  passing  through  their  hands, 
they  will  only  need  to  constitute  themselves  into  a  jury 
and  hold  a  post-mortem.  Why,  father,  remember  my 
past  experience  with  medicine.  Have  I  not  compassed 
sea  and  land  in  search  of  health?  Have  I  not  given  a 
patient  trial  to  allopathy,  homoeopathy  and  all  other 
'pathys  ever  invented  by  man  ?  have  I  not  visited  every 
American  Spa,  from  Saratoga  to  Colorado  Springs? 
Have  I  not  covered  my  body,  from  the  crown  of  my 
head  to  the  soles  of  my  feet,  with  porous  plasters 
and  blisters,  until  I  am  really  in  doubt  whether  my 


8       ,  ,  atrti^j  ;T,H>:  CHRISTIAN  SCIENTIST, 

mortal  frame   be  arc  animated  apothecary  shop   or  a 
well  wrapped  mummy?" 

Mr.  Dupont  answered  not  a  word ;  he  was  so  used 
to  the  saucy  petulance  of  his  spoiled  child  that  he  knew 
argument  to  be  useless.  He  quietly  summoned  the 
physicians,  and  Miss  Alice  had,  as  she  expressed  it, 
"to  submit  again  to  the  tortures  of  the  Medical  In 
quisition."  The  doctors,  after  diagnosing  her  case, 
found  themselves  puzzled  by  the  fact  that  a  body  with 
such  apparently  sound  organs  should  suffer  such 
innumerable  pains  as  Miss  Dupont  affirmed  pertained 
to  her  own.  In  their  dilemma  they  added  to  their  con 
sultation  Dr.  Bangs,  the  leading  physician  of  the  city, 
and  a  specialist  in  cases  of  diseases  among  fashionable 
circles.  Dr.  Bangs  examined  the  case,  enquired  into 
Alice's  former  history,  then  shook  his  head.  "  Doctor, 
do  you  think  the  case  serious?"  inquired  Dr.  Roons. 
"  Not  at  all,"  replied  Dr.  Bangs,  "  If  only  the  proper 
treatment  be  applied."  "What  is  that  treatment?" 
anxiously  asked  his  consulting  brethren.  The  doctor 
sentoriously  answered,  "  Send  her  to  the  workhouse." 

"  Send  the  daughter  of  Ernest  Dupont,  triple  million 
aire,  to  the  workhouse  !  "  exclaimed  the  doctors,  "  surely, 
Dr.  Bangs,  you  are  joking."  "  Yes,  gentlemen,  answered 
the  doctor,  "joking  as  to  the  possibility  of  such  a 
proceeding,  but  not  as  to  its  wisdom.  Let  Miss  Dupont 
be  sent  to  the  workhouse,  where  she  will  exchange  her 
rich  living  for  the  plainest  diet,  where  she  will  doff  her 
cold-inviting  garb,  and  don  plain  woollen  frocks,  where 
she  will  exchange  her  feather  bed  for  a  straw  pallet, 
and  her  midnight  oil  for  early  candle-light  bedtime, 


OR,    THE   NEW    HYGEIA.  g 

where,  above  all,  she  will  be  compelled  to  leave  off 
dancing  in  overheated  rooms  and  go  to  hard  work  in 
the  open  air,  and  I  will  stake  my  reputation  on  her 
recovery." 

This  sally  of  Dr.  Bangs  was  answered  by  a  chorus  of 
laughter,  in  which  the  doctor  himself  joined.  For  let 
it  not  be  supposed  that  physicians  are  too  much 
wrapped  in  professional  dignity  to  enjoy  a  good  laugh. 
Verily,  among  the  best  natured,  most  sacrificing  men 
are  physicians.  They  have  their  hobbies  (who  has 
not?),  they  may  be  wedded  to  their  peculiar  views  of 
practice,  may  even  sometimes  make  mistakes  in  their 
treatment,  but  their  highest  aim  is  their  patients'  wel 
fare.  You  cavil  at  their  fees,  why,  reader,  they  give 
more  in  free  advice  than  you  do  in  your  charity.  If  a 
man  rang  your  bell  at  night,  as  often  as  you  do  theirs, 
you  would  be  tempted  to  shoot  him.  You  would 
quarrel  with  the  dearest  friend,  from  whom  you  have  to 
take  as  much  censure,  impatience,  disobedience  to 
counsels,  as  they  receive  while  treating  your  chronic 
complaints.  You  order  your  carriage  and  flee  the 
town  when  you  hear  that  cholera  or  yellow  fever  has 
broken  out  therein ;  the  doctor  orders  his  carriage  and 
drives,  like  Tennyson's  faithful  Six  Hundred,  "  right 
into  the  jaws  of  death."  Oh,  ye  workers  in  brass  and 
marble,  who  adorn  our  parks  with  statues  of  heroes  who 
have  won  their  fame  with  the  sword,  why  not  with  those 
who  have  won  it  with  the  scapel?  Which  is  the  loftiest 
hero,  the  one  who  wins  fame  by  shedding  other  men's 
blood,  or  the  one  who  wins  it  by  saving  other  men's 
lives?  Talk  of  "the  hero  of  a  hundred  battle  fields," 


IO  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

why,  every  good  physician  is  the  hero  of  a  thousand 
battle  fields,  among  which,  perchance,  may  be  found 
his  struggle  to  wrest  for  thee  the  victory  from  death. 
Our  book  shall  not  join  in  the  hue  and  cry  of  miserable 
charlatans,  who  criticise  a  profession  they  have  not 
brains  or  morals  enough  to  appreciate.  Even  if  it 
gives  some  good-natured  pokes  under  the  fifth  rib 
to  the  materialistic  portion  of  the  medical  profession, 
even  if  it  attempts  to  anoint  the  eyes  of  such  with  a 
little  mind-cure  ointment,  yet  let  it  here  throw  down  its 
gauntlet  and  challenge  any  one  who  does  not  acknowl 
edge  that  a  good  physician  is  one  of  the  noblest  works 
of  God. 

The  doctors  having  had  their  laugh  out  settled  down 
to  the  question, —  what  to  do  with  Miss  Alice  Dupont. 
Finally  they  agreed  to  act  on  the  very  principle  under 
lying  Dr.  Bangs'  "workhouse  treatment"  by  sending 
her  to  Europe,  with  the  following  conditions : 

First,  she  must  go  directly  to  Switzerland,  not  stopping 
at  Paris,  Baden  Baden,  or  any  like  places. 

Second,  in  Switzerland  she  was  to  avoid  hotels,  and 
make  her  permanent  abode  in  some  plain  chalet,  where 
plenty  of  milk,  fresh  meats  and  vegetables  could  be 
procured.  Her  bill  of  fare,  carefully  written  out  by 
Dr.  Bangs,  would  have  made  even  an  anchorite  tremble. 

Third,  the  usual  thin  apparel  of  Miss  Dupont  was  to 
be  exchanged  for  thick  woollens,  and  her  arms  and 
bosom  were  henceforth  to  be  hid  from  admiring  eyes. 

Fourth,  she  was  to  be  kept  as  much  as  possible  in 
the  open  air,  in  all  weathers  (except  great  extremes  of 
heat  or  cold),  and  especially  (Dr.  Bangs  underscored 


OR,    THE   NEW    HYGEIA.  II 

especially)  is  all  conversation  on  her  complaints  to  be 
discouraged. 

"  But,  doctor,"  said  Mrs.  Dupont,  when  the  above 
plan  of  treatment  was  made  known  to  her,  "  I  notice 
you  have  not  left  any  prescription  papers  for  my 
daughter.  Shall  we  not  take  a  case  of  medicines  along, 
for  Alice  is  very  dependent  on  her  pepsin,  ammonia, 
chloral,  etc.?"  "Madam,"  answered  Dr.  Bangs,  with 
that  courtesy  which  always  feathered  his  arrows,  "  I 
appreciate  your  motherly  solicitude  for  the  highest 
interests  of  your  charming  daughter,  but  I  think  it  will 
commend  itself  to  your  judgment  that  Miss  Alice  is 
now  old  enough  to  be  weaned  from  bottles  of  medicine, 
the  weaning  process  generally  makes  the  child  cry,  but," 
he  added  with  a  significant  look,  "  the  true  mother  shuts 
her  ears  to  those  cries,  because  she  knows  they 
will  soon  be  exchanged  for  the  smiles  of  a  vigorous 
youth." 

Be  it  said  to  the  credit  of  Mrs.  Dupont  that  the 
doctor's  orders  were  carried  out  to  the  letter,  and  at  the 
end  of  four  months  one  would  have  scarcely  recognized 
in  the  blooming  Swiss  peasant  girl  the  former  sickly 
habitue  of  the  New  York  drawing  rooms.  It  was  at 
this  period  in  Alice  Dupont's  history  that  she  first  met 
William  Mortimer. 


12  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER  II. 
WILLIAM  MORTIMER'S  FIRST  LOVE  EXPERIENCES. 

"  In  receiving  knowledge  into  the  mind,"  says  Plato, 
"  it  is  necessary  that  the  receptacle  which  is  destined 
to  receive  all  possible  forms  should  itself  be  destitute  of 
every  form.  Just  as  those  who  wish  to  impress  certain 
figures  in  a  soft  and  yielding  substance  (as  a  wax 
tablet)  are  careful  that  it  may  not  appear  impressed 
with  any  previous  figure."  Such  at  least  was  the  state 
of  William  Mortimer's  heart  when  he  first  met  Alice 
Dupont,  it  had  not  been  "  impressed  with  any  previous 
figure." 

Who  was  this  William  Mortimer?  This  was  a 
question  frequently  asked,  for  suddenly  had  he  risen 
upon  New  York  legal  circles,  as  a  star  of  the  first 
magnitude.  It  is  one  peculiarity  of  that  city  that  men 
coming  to  it  from  the  country,  either  suddenly  disappear 
from  public  notice,  so  that  the  hero  of  some  village 
becomes  an  unknown  New  Yorker,  or  else  the  unknown 
man  of  some  village  develops  into  a  leading  banker, 
politician,  or  merchant.  Mortimer  belonged  to  the 
latter  class.  He  had  never  been  heard  of  until  he 
appeared  in  the  celebrated  case  of  Perkins  vs.  Perkins. 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGKIA.  13 

It  was  a  divorce  case,  in  which  Henry  Perkins,  a  man 
of  great  wealth,  tried  to  shake  off  Henrietta  Perkins,  his 
lawfully  married  wife,  with  the  generally  believed  object 
of  marrying  an  actress  with  whom  he  had  become 
infatuated,  and  she  with  his  wealth.  Mortimer  appeared 
for  Mrs.  Perkins.  He  had  been  so  quiet  during  the 
testimony-taking  part  of  the  hearing  that  the  counsel 
for  Mr.  Perkins  treated  him  with  silent  contempt. 
When  he  rose  to  make  the  closing  argument  scarcely 
anyone  paid  him  attention,  but,  though  hesitating  a 
little  in  the  start,  when  he  got  fairly  launched,  the  judge, 
jury  and  spectators  began  to  listen,  first  with  wonder  at 
the  amount  of  legal  acumen  he  displayed,  then  with 
admiration  at  his  thorough  sifting  of  the  testimony  and 
the  logical  precision  with  which  he  conducted  his 
argument.  When  he  came  to  his  peroration,  there 
flashed  scintillations  of  wit,  and  poured  forth  such 
a  stream  of  eloquence,  there  was  such  pathos  in  his 
description  of  the  wrongs  endured  by  the  wife,  and 
biting  sarcasm  at  the  nefarious  conspiracy  of  the 
husband,  that  he  held  judge  and  jury  in  breathless 
attention.  It  was  one  of  those  mental  triumphs,  where 
a  single  mind  holds  captive  at  its  will  the  minds  of 
others.  Before  he  sat  down,  one  could  have  read  in 
the  faces  of  the  jury  that  their  verdict  would  be  on  the 
side  of  Mortimer's  client. 

Who  is  that  young  man?  where  did  he  come  from? 
was  the  general  inquiry.  No  one  seemed  to  know,  but 
Briggs,  the  wag  of  the  court  room,  said,  "  He  is  a  male 
Minerva,  sprung  from  the  head  of  some  legal  Jupiter, 
I  guess  he  will  cleave  open  a  good  many  heads  and 


14  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

hearts  before  he  ends  his  career."  Which  remark,  as 
his  future  history  will  show,  was  decidedly  prophetic. 
From  that  day  Mortimer's  legal  reputation  was  made 
and  his  social  position  established.  There  was  still 
some  mystery  about  his  origin,  but  when  it  was 
ascertained  that  he  was  the  son  of  Eugene  Mortimer,  a 
wealthy  retired  New  York  merchant,  whose  firm  had 
been  marked  A  I  by  Bradstreet,  no  further  investigation 
was  demanded.  For  be  he  Mormon  or  Mahometan, 
saint  or  sinner,  that  was  sufficient  to  establish  his 
character  on  Change. 

Eugene  Mortimer  had  left  a  large  fortune  to  his  son, 
who  spent  it  not  in  riotous  living,  but  in  acquiring  a 
good  education,  and  was  now  able  to  start  a  good 
pedigree  for'his  descendants.  Miss  Violet  Montgomery 
declared  that  Mortimer  was  the  biggest  catch  in  New 
York  society.  Miss  Montgomery  angled  for  him,  and 
was  assisted  by  enough  females  to  have  made  up  a 
good-sized  fishing  excursion,  but  either  the  fishers  had 
not  the  right  kind  of  bait,  or  the  fish  they  were  after 
did  not  swim  by  their  hooks ;  they  failed  to  get  even  a 
nibble  from  Mortimer,  wherefore  we  will  now  disclose. 

Mortimer's  highest  ideal  of  earthly  happiness  was  a 
happy  home.  Left  an  orphan  in  infancy,  brought  up 
by  stiff,  solemn-faced  aunts,  living  in  boarding  houses, 
hotels  and  flats,  he  acted  as  the  human  mind  always 
does  in  forming  its  ideals,  by  making  them  just  the 
reverse  of  former  experiences.  Of  course  the  central 
figure  in  this  picture  of  a  home  was  a  wife,  and  this  was 
Mortimer's  ideal :  First,  she  must  be  a  child  of  nature ; 
he  had  seen  in  New  York  society  so  many  daughters 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  15 

of  art,  affected,  made  up,  padded  intellectually  and 
morally,  that  he  said  "  he  wanted  a  wife  who  was  a  God- 
made  woman,  not  a  fashionable  boarding  school  and 
society  production."  Of  course,  she  must  be  intelligent, 
entirely  respectable,  amiable,  possessing  good  looks, 
these,  however,  were  minor  considerations,  but  one  thing 
was  essential,  she  must  have  a  nature  so  responsive  to  his 
own  that  they  were  to  fall  in  love  at  first  sight.  No 
wonder  that  with  such  an  ideal,  Miss  Violet  Montgomery 
and  her  companions  failed  to  put  the  right  bait  on  their 
hooks  to  catch  William  Mortimer,  but  wonder  of 
wonders,  the  first  person  whom  he  met  filling  this  ideal 
(at  least  Mortimer  at  the  time  thought  so)  was  Miss 
Alice  Dupont. 

And  thus  came  it  to  pass.  Mortimer's  large  practice 
broke  down  his  health  and  he  went  to  Europe  soon 
after  Alice's  departure  for  Switzerland.  After  travelling 
through  the  continent  for  four  months,  he  landed  in  the 
very  village  where  the  Duponts  were  sojourning.  Their 
first  meeting  was  rather  romantic.  Mortimer  in 
walking  over  the  hills  and  vales  lost  his  way ;  seeing  at 
a  distance  a  Swiss  peasant  girl,  as  he  supposed,  he  bent 
his  steps  thitherward.  Alice  looked  very  charming 
that  morning,  the  Swiss  air  had  painted  her  cheeks  with 
rosy  tints,  her  complexion  under  the  simple  regimen 
enforced  by  Dr.  Bangs  had  become  as  fair  as  a  child's, 
her  form  emancipated  from  fashionable  fetters  had 
regained  its  flowing  outlines. 

When  Alice  saw  a  handsome  gentleman  approaching, 
whom  she  recognized  as  an  American,  she  posed  in  a 
most  graceful  attitude,  making  a  tableau  vivant  of  a 


l6  RUTH,   THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

beautiful  Swiss  peasant  girl.  Mortimer's  admiring  gaze 
was  not  unnoticed  by  Alice,  while  his  handsome  face 
and  gentlemanly  bearing  impressed  her  own  heart. 

Mortimer,  supposing  he  was  addressing  a  Swiss  girl, 
said,  "  Est-ce  id  le  chemin  qui  conduit  a  le  village" 
With  a  roguish  smile,  Alice  answered,  "Yes,  sir,  and  if 
my  countryman  will  keep  straight  on,  turning  neither  to 
the  right  nor  the  left,  he  will  soon  find  himself  at  the 
village."  Mortimer,  overwhelmed  with  astonishment, 
exclaimed,  "Is  it  possible  that  I  am  addressing  an 
American  lady?"  Mutual  explanations  followed,  mu 
tual  acquaintances  were  recognized,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  Mortimer  discovered  that  he  was  talking  to  the 
daughter  of  a  rich  New  York  banker,  and  Alice,  that 
she  was  facing  the  man  whom  she  had  often  said  "  she 
was  dying  to  meet," — William  Mortimer.  The  result 
was  that  Miss  Dupont  accompanied  Mr.  Mortimer  on 
his  way  to  the  village,  and  continued  to  be  his  guide  in 
his  daily  rambles. 

Alice  was  wiser  than  Miss  Montgomery,  she  herself 
used  no  hook,  the  fish  would  have  been  scared  at  the 
sight  of  a  hook,  she  let  Mortimer  do  the  angling. 
Alice  was  on  her  good  behavior, —  so  sweet,  so  gentle, 
so  perfectly  good-natured.  She  had  quietly  drawn 
from  Mortimer  his  ideal,  she  was  now  doing  her  best 
to  reproduce  it.  She  kept  her  peasant  garb,  she  flashed 
her  eyes  at  him  under  her  jaunty  Swiss  hat,  she  bounded 
over  the  rocks  like  a  roe;  it  is  true  she  sometimes 
condescended  to  let  Mortimer  take  her  hand  to  assist 
her  over  some  dangerous  place,  and,  Oh,  how  her 
little  hand  trembled  as  it  touched  his.  Thus  it  went  on 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  If 

for  some  weeks,  when  to  Alice's  joy  the  nibbles  became 
a  decided  bite ;  still  she  showed  no  anxiety  to  haul  in 
her  prize ;  even  after  being  persuaded  she  had  him  on 
her  hook,  she  let  him  play  with  her  line.  But  the 
moment  came  when  she  felt  she  should  wait  no  longer. 

They  were  engaged  in  earnest  conversation,  Mortimer 
being  so  engrossed  that  he  did  not  notice  a  precipice 
over  which  he  came  near  falling.  A  shriek  from  Alice, 
a  sudden  grasp  by  her  fair  hands,  then  a  clinging  to 
him  till  she  had  drawn  him  to  a  place  of  safety,  when 
she  sank  down  entirely  overcome.  How  she  blushed 
and  trembled,  yea,  actually  wept  with  mortification  to 
think  that  she  had  so  betrayed  herself.  Mortimer 
undertook  to  dry  Alice's  tears,  a  very  dangerous 
operation,  as  it  only  gave  Alice  the  opportunity  of 
flashing  her  eyes  into  his. 

He  began  to  be  sentimental,  Alice  at  once  checked 
him.  "  Mr.  Mortimer,"  she  said  with  great  dignity, 
"  you  are  too  much  of  a  gentleman  to  betray  to  others 
the  agitation  I  have  exhibited  this  morning,  I  beg  you 
to  bury  it  in  oblivion,"  then  with  a  sigh,  "  I  only  wish  I 
could,"  then  hurriedly  rising  and  dashing  a  tear  away, 
she  said,  "  let  us  return  at  once  to  the  village,  I  think  I 
shall  leave  Switzerland  to-morrow."  But  Mortimer 
gently  detained  her, —  "Why  Miss  Dupont,  you  must 
not  leave  me  till  I  have  at  least  the  opportunity  of 
thanking  you  for  saving  my  life."  Alice  sank  again 
into  a  seat  by  Mortimer's  side,  though  with  a  resigned 
air  as  if  doing  it  merely  out  of  polite  consideration  for 
his  request. 

"  Miss  Dupont,"  began  Mortimer,  "I  —  I  really  can- 


l8  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

not  thank  you  enough  for  your  timely  aid,  it  may  have 
saved  my  life,  would  that  I  might  hope  that  it  might 
result  in  bringing  our  lives  nearer  together."  Alice 
looked  up  with  an  air  as  of  most  innocent  bewilderment. 
"  Ah,"  thought  Mortimer,  "what  a  child  of  nature,  she 
does  not  understand  the  ways  of  man  or  the  strategy  of 
lovers." 

As  Alice  said  nothing  but  continued  her  bewildered 
gaze,  Mortimer  proceeded.  "I  see  that  you  do  not 
quite  understand  me,  permit  me  to  speak  to  you 
plainly."  "  Certainly,"  said  Alice,  "  for  Mr.  Mortimer 
is  too  much  of  a  gentleman  to  say  anything  that  any 
lady  could  not  hear,  besides  if  there  is  anything  I 
despise  it  is  the  circumlocution  of  fashionable  society. 
Now  tell  me,  Mr.  Mortimer,  plainly,  what  in  the  world 
could  /  do  to  aid  your  life, —  a  man  of  such  genius  as 
yourself,  of  such  fame,  why,"  and  she  gave  one  of  those 
happy  laughs  which  warbled  so  sweetly  from  her  lips, 
"  do  you  want  me  to  write  a  brief  for  your  next  case  ?  " 

"What  a  charming,  innocent  creature,"  thought 
Mortimer,  "  how  shall  I  make  her  understand  the  state 
of  my  heart."  "  No,  not  that,  Miss  Dupont,"  he  answered, 
"  I  do  not  need  any  one  to  aid  me  in  writing  briefs,  but 
I  sadly  need  some  one  to  give  me  a  happy  home." 
Alice  sprang  to  her  feet  and  with  a  mock  courtesy  said, 
"  Does  Mr.  Mortimer  need  a  cook,  maid  or  waitress,  if 
so,  let  me  recommend  him  to  apply  to  John  Smith,  250 
Broadway,  New  York,  who  will  for  a  very  small  fee 
supply  one ;  but  come,  Mr.  Mortimer,  let  us  return  to 
the  village."  "  Alas,"  thought  Mortimer,  "  if  she  does 
now  understand  me,  she  does  not  reciprocate  my  love, 
but  I  will  try  again." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  \g 

"Miss  Dupont,"  said  Mortimer,  "why  treat  me  thus, 
you  do  understand  me,  you  must  see  that  I  do  not  want 
to  banter,  but  to  reveal  the  state  of  my  heart  and  lay  it 
at  your  feet."  "Why,  Mr.  Mortimer  !"  (tableaux  vivant 
again,  Alice  posing  as  an  affrighted  doe  startled  by  the 
hunter),  then,  as  if  perfectly  overcome  with  her  emotions, 
she  sank  down  into  her  seat  by  Mortimer's  side,  and 
put  her  hands  to  her  face  (not,  however,  covering  it 
enough  to  hide  the  tears  which  moistened  her  eyes). 

"  Why,  Miss  Dupont,  what  have  I  done,"  exclaimed 
Mortimer,  "  I  certainly  did  not  mean  to  grieve  you 
thus,  I  only  wanted  to  express  my  admiration  —  my 
love  —  to  offer  you  my  hand  and  heart." 

"Ah,  Mr.  Mortimer,"  she  said,  looking  up  in  his 
face  with  the  most  tender*  of  expressions,  "I  do  under 
stand  you  now,  but  I  feel  that  I  am  so  unworthy  of  you 
—  you  so  pure,  so  good,  so  noble,  and  I  —  "  For  the 
first  time  in  the  whole  interview,  Alice's  conscience  had 
control  of  her  mind ;  that  conscience  smote  her, 
for  she  knew  here  was  a  noble-hearted  man  being 
befooled  by  her  low  comedy  and  high  tragedy.  But 
when  she  came  to  the  "  I,"  another  tableaux  vivant 
took  place  in  which  Mortimer  was  the  impetuous,  pro 
testing,  urgent  suitor,  and  Alice  the  coy  maiden,  yielding 
at  last  to  his  earnest  pleading. 

When  the  news  of  Alice  Dupont's  engagement  to 
William  Mortimer  reached  New  York,  it  made  a  great 
stir  in  circles  where  they  were  both  well  known.  "  The 
funniest  match  I  ever  heard  of,"  said  Edgar  Cooley, 
"that  legal  prude  Mortimer  engaged  to  that  society 
butterfly,  Alice  Dupont !  verily,  he  will  have  to  send 


2O  RUTH,'  THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

her  to  the  House  of  Correction,  during  the  courtship,  to 
prepare  her  for  the  marriage."  Edward  Spangler  de 
clared  Mortimer's  case  to  be  a  striking  illustration  of 
the  injury  a  city  man  does  himself  by  staying  out  of 
society.  "If  William  Mortimer  had  gone  more  into 
society/'  said  Edgar,  "  he  would  have  learned  from  its 
gossip  all  the  past  history  of  his  destined  bride."  He 
added,  "  Some  decry  society's  gossip,  but  after  all  it 
serves  the  useful  purpose  of  an  intelligence  office, 
where  the  character  of  people  can  be  ascertained." 
Anson  Stefman,  an  admirer  of  Mortimer,  lost  his 
patience  and  exclaimed,  "  It's  a  mystery  to  me  how  an 
acute  mind  like  William  Mortimer's  could  be  bewitched 
with  such  an  empty-headed  girl."  But  here  Dr.  Strong, 
another  friend  of  Mortimer's  interposed,  "  You  are 
making  a  great  mistake,  Mr.  Stefman,  in  your  estimate 
of  Miss  Dupont's  mental  ability;  even  granting  that 
she  has  hitherto  led  a  useless  life,  there  is  no  reason  to 
think  her  a  fool.  It  takes  a  smart  man  to  be  a  great 
rogue,  and  it  requires  a  smart  woman  for  a  successful 
coquette.  Why,  think  what  Miss  Dupont  has  had  to 
accomplish  to  conquer  Mortimer's  will,  convert  his 
judgment,  and  elicit  his  affection.  We  wonder  at  the 
sage  Pericles  consorting  with  Aspasia ;  at  Caesar,  after 
conquering  whole  nations,  being  led  captive  by  Cleo 
patra  ;  of  cardinals  and  bishops  dallying  with  Lucrezia 
Borgia;  but  each  of  these  women  must  have  had 
something  besides  their  personal  charms,  each  possessed 
mental  ability ;  indeed,  Aspasia  almost  controlled  the 
politics  of  Athens,  Cleopatra  held  her  queenship  in 
the  face  of  able  foes,  and  Lucrezia  Borgia  was  a  born 


21 

diplomat.  I  grant  you/'  added  Dr.  Strong,  "that  this 
use  of  mental  power  is  a  prostitution  of  its  noblest 
faculties,  and  that  such  triumphs  of  mind  are  but 
transient,  but  if  Miss  Dupont  fails  in  holding  her 
captive,  it  will  not  be  from  lack  of  mind  but  from  want 
of  character.  Yet  even  here  the  power  of  a  dominant 
idea  may  convert  Miss  Alice  into  a  new  character;  I 
have  known  many  an  apparently  light-headed,  fashion 
able  society  girl  to  settle  down  after  marriage  and 
become  a  very  devoted  wife." 

It  might  be  supposed  from  this  talk  of  Dr. 
Strong,  that  he  had  perused  some  of  Alice's  letters  to 
her  friends,  announcing  her  engagement,  for  they  were 
filled  with  declarations  of  her  purpose  to  forsake  fashion 
able  gaities  and  settle  down  as  a  faithful  helpmeet  to 
"  her  dear  William."  She  made  more  resolutions  than 
were  required  by  the  moral  law.  In  theory  she  became 
an  extremest  in  prudery,  Mortimer  had  even  to  argue 
with  her  against  her  resolution  "  To  never  set  her  foot 
in  society  again."  "Why,"  he  said,  "Alice,  I  do  not 
want  my  wife  to  be  an  Anchoress,  we  have  means,  let 
us  enjoy  them,  let  us  keep  open  house  where  our 
friends  can  have  a  good  time."  "  Oh,  no,"  answered 
Alice,  "  dear  William,  your  heart  is  all  the  home  an-d 
your  company  all  the  pleasure  I  need." 

This  reaction,  however,  was  too  violent  to  last  long. 
Alice  could  not  always  keep  a  watch  over  herself,  and 
when  it  was  relaxed  the  old  Alice  would  persist  in 
coming  to  the  surface.  It  was  not  long  before  William 
Mortimer  discovered  that  his  "  child  of  nature "  had 
many  of  the  elements  of  a  child  of  the  world.  Though 


22  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

lovers  are  proverbially  blind,  yet  even  the  blind  some 
times  see  more  with  their  mental  vision  than  others  do 
with  their  eyes.  Alice  had  little  ebullitions  of  temper 
—  the  volcano  though  silent  would  occasionally  rumble ; 
she  demanded  a  good  deal  of  petting,  was  imperious, 
self-willed.  Mortimer  also  began  to  see  traces  of 
duplicity,  caught  her  several  times  in  lies,  only  white 
ones  it  was  true,  not  very  black,  but  sufficiently  so  to 
be  rather  startling  to  a  man  possessing  a  high  sense  of 
honor.  Unconsciously  there  grew  up  a  feeling  that 
there  was  a  lack  of  sympathy  in  their  views,  tastes  and 
principles ;  they  were  not,  as  the  French  would  say, 
en  rapport.  Still  Mortimer  could  but  see  that  Alice 
was  trying  to  please  him,  which  made  him  thankful ;  or 
rather  he  tried  to  be  thankful,  and  harder  still,  to  be 
happy. 

At  last,  after  three  months'  courtship,  Mortimer  re 
turned  to  America  leaving  Alice  behind.  This  was  the 
happiest  part  of  their  engagement;  for,  Oh,  what 
beautiful  letters  she  wrote  him,  in  such  a  delicate,  female 
hand,  with  such  effusions  of  love,  "  Their  separation  was 
almost  killing  her,  Oh,  for  one  moment  of  happiness  by 
his  side !  " 

Two  months  passed  and  Alice  returned  home.  It  was 
the  winter  season,  parties  were  in  full  blast,  theatres 
and  operas  peculiarly  inviting, —  the  old  tastes  returned 
when  the  tempting  meats  met  her  eyes.  She  plead  with 
Mortimer  to  just  go  out  a  little  into  society,  then  a 
little  more,  until  before  he  knew  it  he  was  actually  be 
coming  one  of  the  society  men  of  New  York.  "  Why, 
what  has  so  changed  you,  Alice,"  asked  Mortimer,  "  I 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  23 

heard  you  once  vow  '  never  to  put  your  foot  in  society 
again.' "  "  You,  you  dear  love,"  said  Alice,  "  I  find 
that  you  are  always  right,  you  remember  how  you 
argued  against  that  resolution  and  I  am  converted  to 
your  views ;  yes,  love,  I  want  always  to  be  governed  by 
your  superior  wisdom." 

Mortimer  kissed  the  uplifted  lips,  and  determined  to 
let  Alice  have  all  the  enjoyment  she  wanted.  But  that 
became  impossible ;  being  engaged  to  Alice,  Mortimer 
had  to  accompany  her  through  her  round  of  pleasures, 
and  soon  his  head,  stomach  and  conscience  joined  in 
rebellion.  At  last  he  had  a  plain  talk  with  Alice,  and 
told  her  that  he  would  have  to  either  give  up  this  round 
of  pleasure  or  his  practice,  and  hinted  rather  strongly 
that  he  would  give  up  both  the  pleasure  and  herself 
rather  than  his  practice.  There  was  first  a  fight,  but 
when  Alice  saw  that  Mortimer  meant  what  he  said,  she 
succumbed,  and  it  ended,  as  their  quarrels  usually  did, 
with  fresh  protestations  of  mutual  affection. 

Things  went  on  swimmingly  for  a  season,  but  though 
Alice  gave  up  public  balls  she  frequented  ladies'  social 
parties.  Her  long  abstinence  in  Switzerland  seemed  to 
have  had  the  effect  that  prolonged  fasts  have  on  their 
subjects  —  they  become  perfectly  ravenous  at  the  close. 
Debarred  from  public  dissipations  she  made  up  for  it 
by  private  feasts,  gorging  herself  with  high-seasoned 
food  and  rich  wines ;  instead  of  keeping  late  hours  at 
the  opera,  she  sat  up  late  in  her  room  reading  French 
novels;  she  still  affected  simplicity  in  her  outward 
dress,  but  was  perpetually  shopping,  and  like  the  king's 
daughter  of  the  scriptures,  was  "  clothed  beautifully 
within." 


24  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

Again  her  health  began  to  give  way,  the  Swiss 
peasant  girl's  blooming  cheeks  were  pinched  and  faded. 
She  became  hysterical,  moody,  complaining ;  Mortimer 
could  not  visit  her  without  hearing  of  her  headaches, 
pains,  etc.  Again  a  consultation  of  doctors  was  sum 
moned.  Again  the  gamut  was  run  on  allopathy, 
homoeopathy  and  hydropathy.  Again  she  grew  dissi 
pated  on  patent  medicines.  Mortimer  stood  it  bravely ; 
"he  had  passed  his  word,"  that  was  what  he  often 
muttered  to  himself.  He  tried  to  sympathize  and  cheer, 
even  bought  some  medical  books,  and  studied  the  rules 
of  hygiene  and  the  best  methods  of  cure. 

Mortimer  was  getting  restive,  his  own  health  began 
to  fail ;  he  was  ashamed  to  find  how  nervously  he  wrote 
his  briefs,  how  he  hesitated  in  his  arguments.  He 
consulted  with  his  friends,  they  only  shook  their  heads 
and  said  little.  Finally  one  day  he  almost  bounded 
into  Alice's  room,  exclaiming,  "  I  have  just  met  a  friend 
who  told  me  of  an  entirely  new  plan  of  treatment, 
which  has  worked  wonderful  cures."  "What  is  it?" 
eagerly  asked  Alice.  "  Why,  it  is  something,"  answered 
Mortimer,  "  which  is  called  the  Mind-Cure." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  25 


CHAPTER     III. 
RUTH,    "THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST." 

It  was  with  some  difficulty  that  Mortimer  persuaded 
his  betrothed  to  let  him  even  have  an  interview  with  a 
mind-curer  about  her  case.  The  fact  was,  he  himself 
knew  little  about  this  new  treatment;  he  could  only 
describe  it  as  "  something  which  worked  through  the 
imagination  on  the  body."  This  brought  on  him  a 
shower  of  reproaches  from  Alice,  who,  with  pouting 
lips  and  tearful  eyes,  protested  against  his  imputation 
that  her  disease  was  the  effect  of  imagination. 

Mrs.  Dupont,  however,  became  deeply  interested  in 
the  wonderful  accounts  Mortimer  gave  of  the  cures 
wrought  by  this  treatment.  One  woman,  who  had 
been  bedridden  for  years,  had  in  a  few  weeks  taken  up 
her  bed  and  walked.  Another  had  been  cured  of 
asthma,  others  of  neuralgia,  several  of  tumors,  etc.,  etc. 
Alice  listened  with  wondering  eyes,  as  Mortimer  skilfully 
detailed  the  cure  of  several  cases  resembling  her  own, 
and  finally  said,  "  Well,  William,  if  father  and  mother 
are  agreed,  I  will  try  this  new  treatment." 

Mr.  Dupont  came  in  just  then,  and,  being  informed 
of  the  project,  inquired,  "  Do  you  know,  Mr.  Mortimer, 
whether  this  Mind-Curer  can  cure  malaria?  for  I  notice 


20  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

the  doctors  now-a-days  ascribe  so  many  diseases  to 
malaria,  it  seems,  like  charity,  '  to  cover  many ' 
physical  '  sins.' " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mortimer,  trying  to  keep  his  countenance 
straight  and  stretching  his  conscience  a  little,  "  yes, 
my  friend  told  me  of  a  lady  who  had  malaria  for 
years.  She  tried  Allopathy,  Homoeopathy,  Hydro 
pathy,  and  every  other  'pathy,  all  in  vain,  but  was 
finally  cured  by  this  mind-cure  treatment. 

"  Telephone  for  him  at  once,"  said  Mr.  Dupont. 

"  It's  not  a  he,  but  a  she,"  replied  Mortimer. 

"  A  lady  doctor  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Dupont.  "  Oh, 
then  I  don't  want  anything  to  do  with  her." 

"  Queer,  isn't  it,  Mr.  Mortimer,"  said  Mr.  Dupont, 
"  that  women  are  always  the  hardest  on  their  own  sex  ? 
Why,  what  matters  it,  wife,  whether  the  mind-curer  be 
male  or  female,  so  that  our  daughter  is  cured?" 

"Well,"  answered  Mrs.  Dupont,  rather  reluctantly,  "  I 
agree  to  try  her,  if  you  think,  Mr.  Dupont,  that  she's 
a  respectable  person." 

"  Oh,  she  must  be  that,  Mrs.  Dupont,"  interposed 
Mortimer,  "  for  my  friend  Simmons  would  have  none 
other  attend  his  family.  Besides,  I  find  that  one 
feature  of  this  mind-cure  is  the  high  mental  and 
Christian  character  of  its  practitioners.  Indeed,  it 
enters  into  the  very  best  circles  of  society.  Why,  it's 
the  very  rage  of  Fifth  and  Madison  avenues.  One  can 
hardly  go  to  a  fashionable  party,  or  tony  church 
sociable,  or  literary  soiree,  but  you  hear  it  talked 
about.  I  am  told  that  the  ladies  who  practise  it  have 
to  take  a  very  thorough  course  in  what  they  call  '  meta- 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  2f 

physical  colleges.'  This  lady,"  looking  at  a  card  he 
held  in  his  hand,"  is  named  Ruth  Page.  I  expect  she 
is  a  Quakeress,  perhaps  some  motherly  looking  woman, 
who,  with  that  quiet  refinement  which  always  charac 
terizes  the  Friends,  will  come  as  a  sort  of  ministering 
angel." 

Now,  the  fact  was,  this  climax  of  Mortimer's  descrip 
tion  was  wholly  drawn  from  his  imagination,  and 
suggested  by  his  experience  as  a  lawyer  in  painting 
enchanting  mind-pictures  to  gain  the  verdict  of  juries. 
Who  Ruth  Page  was  he  knew  not,  only  that  she  was 
what  his  friend  termed  a  mind-curer.  But  the  idea  of 
this  matronly  Quakeress,  in  her  beautifully  simple 
garb,  coming  in  as  a  ministering  angel,  took  Alice's 
fancy,  and  she  determined  at  once  that  Ruth  Page 
should  be  summoned  to  her  bedside ;  and  when  an  only 
daughter,  and  she  an  invalid,  determines  anything, 
who  can  gainsay? 

It  was  but  an  hour  after,  that  Mortimer  stood  on  the 
steps  of  a  house  in  the  upper  part  of  New  York  city. 
On  the  door  was  simply  the  name,  "  Page."  Nothing 
would  indicate  that  it  was  the  abode  of  a  physician. 
It  corresponded  to  the  number  of  the  card,  and 
Mortimer  felt  sure  that  it  was  the  home  of  the  person 
he  sought.  So  he  simply  handed  his  card  to  the 
servant  and  asked  whether  he  could  see  Mrs.  Page. 
The  servant  hesitated  a  moment,  and  asked,  "  Do  you 
wish  to  see  Mrs.  or  Miss  Page?  " 

Mortimer  produced  the  card  with  "  Ruth  Page  "  on 
it  and  said,  "  This  is  the  lady  I  want  to  see." 

"  It  is  then  Miss  Page,"  replied  the  servant. 


28  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

"Alas  for  the  picture  I  drew  of  that  Quakeress," 
thought  Mortimer.  "  I  suppose,  however,  I  am  going 
to  meet  some  antiquated  spinster." 

On  being  ushered  into  the  parlor,  Mortimer  was 
surprised  at  its  quiet  tone  of  elegance.  "  This  can  be 
no  Quakeress'  home,  either,"  said  he,  still  more 
puzzled.  But  soon  his  attention  was  attracted  by  the 
rustling  of  a  silk  dress.  The  door  opened  and  in 
walked  a  young  woman  of  rare  beauty.  Indeed,  she 
burst  upon  Mortimer  as  a  vision  of  incarnate  loveli 
ness.  Her  form,  though  slight,  was  graceful ;  her 
face,  shaded  by  rich  tresses  of  auburn  hair,  was  painted 
with  the  bloom  of  health ;  her  whole  countenance  was 
lit  up  with  an  intelligence  evidently  the  effect  of  high 
culture.  The  only  thing  which  would  indicate  pecu 
liarity  in  her  mental  bias  was  a  sort  of  reverie  in  her 
soft  blue  eyes,  as  if  she  was  one  who  dwelt  much  in 
thought.  As  she  stood  there  before  Mortimer,  he 
inwardly  exclaimed,  even  at  the  risk  of  fealty  to  Alice, 
"  The  most  lovely  woman  I  ever  beheld  !  " 

Mortimer's  look  of  astonishment  was  too  pronounced 
to  escape  the  eyes  of  Miss  Page.  A  look  of  quiet 
satisfaction  played  for  a  moment  over  her  face,  for  he 
was  not  the  first  one  who  had  come  expecting  to  see 
some  cranky,  angular  female  hobbyist.  But  a  suspicion 
began  to  dawn  on  Mortimer's  mind  that  he  might  be 
addressing  some  one  else  than  "  Ruth  Page."  With 
some  hesitation  he  said  : 

"  I  came  to  consult  a  lady,  whom  I  learned  resides 
here,  about  a  sick  friend  in  whom  I  am  especially 
interested.  Am  I  right  in  supposing  I  am  addressing 


29 

Miss  Page?"  "Yes,"  said  Ruth,  trying  to  suppress  a 
smile,  "  but  please,  sir,  be  seated." 

Mortimer  seated  himself  and  began,  "  I  have  learned 
through  a  friend  that  you  have  the  power  to  heal  the 
sick." 

"  I  do  not  claim,"  answered  Ruth,  "  to  heal  the 
sick  by  any  power  that  is  in  myself,  only  to  induce  them 
to  appreciate  the  power  that  is  in  God." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  Mortimer,  "  I  understand,  you  rely 
on  faith  and  prayer,  that  is,"  (hesitating  as  if  trying  to 
feel  his  way),  "you  practice  what  they  call  Faith 
Healing." 

"  No,"  answered  Ruth,  with  a  pleasant  smile,  "  for 
while  we  respect  those  who  believe  in  what  you  call  Faith 
Healing,  we  differ  from  them  in  one  important  point. 
They  regard  faith  as  the  great  instrument ;  we  rely  on 
truth." 

"What?"  said  Mortimer,  completely  perplexed, 
"  please  explain  further  this  distinction." 

"  Perhaps  I  can  best  state  it  thus,"  replied  Ruth, 
evidently  becoming  interested  at  the  inquiring  state  of 
her  visitor's  mind,  "  it  is  the  truth  which  faith  lays  hold 
of,  and  not  the  faith  itself  which  works  the  cure.  All 
disease  we  believe  to  be  the  result  of  error,  as  this  error 
is  purely  mental  we  address  our  treatment  to  the  mind, 
and  when  it  comes  into  a  right  condition  the  result  must 
be  the  cure  of  the  body." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  exclaimed  Mortimer,  "  I  understand  now; 
your  treatment  is  therefore  rightly  named  the  mind- 
cure." 

"  No,  we  do  not  like  to  have  that  term  applied  to  it, 


30  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

the  proper  name  for  our  healing  art  is  Christian 
Science." 

Mortimer  felt  completely  bewildered.  Ruth,  noticing 
it,  said,  "  It  would  need  sometime  to  explain  fully  to 
you  the  nature  of  our  science,  but  if  you  will  tell  me 
the  nature  of  the  case  I  may  be  able  to  advise  about  it." 

Mortimer  was  now  still  more  perplexed.  How  could 
he  talk  over  with  this  young  beauty  what  he  supposed 
to  be  the  ailments  of  Alice?  He  paused  a  moment 
and  answered,  "  I  have  so  little  knowledge  of  disease, 
being  myself  a  lawyer  and  not  a  physician,  that  I  fear  I 
should  misstate  the  case.  Indeed,  my  object  in  calling 
was  to  ask  you  to  do  us  the  great  favor  of  seeing  my 
friend  and  trying  your  skill  upon  her." 

"What  is  her  name  and  where  does  she  live?" 
inquired  Ruth.  Mortimer  gave  Alice's  address. 

"  Could  she  not  come  to  me?  " 

"No,  she  is,  or  thinks  herself,  to  ill  to  leave  the 
house." 

"  Well,  I  will  call  and  see  her  in  an  hour." 

The  thought  flashed  across  Mortimer  —  would  he  not, 
before  bringing  Ruth  and  Alice  in  contact,  have  to 
prepare  Alice  for  meeting  a  beautiful  young  girl  instead 
of  his  pictured  demure  old  Quakeress.  He  feared,  too, 
exciting  Alice's  jealousy,  a  trait  which  had  lately  been 
much  developed.  Indeed,  Alice  was  becoming  a  fearful 
tyrant  in  her  demands  of  having  Mortimer  entirely  for 
herself.  He  began  to  fret  under  the  yoke  he  was 
wearing,  and  sometimes  almost  wished  it  could  be  lifted. 
But  what  was  he  to  do?  He  had  come  to  invite  Miss 
Page  to  see  Alice.  Yet  if  she  came  there  might  be  a 
scene. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  3! 

"  Miss  Page,"  he  began,  with  rather  a  hesitating  air, 
"  I  appreciate  very  much  your  prompt  consent  to  see 
my  friend,  but  knowing  as  I  do  her  state  of  mind,  will 
you  permit  me  to  first  prepare  her  for  the  interview ; 
the  fact  is,  this  plan  is  my  own,  and  my  friend's  faith 
in  this  new  treatment  needs  a  little  strengthening.  I 
know  we  ought  to  consult  your  convenience  and  not 
our  own,  but  if  you  would  permit  me  to  see  my  friend 
before  a  definite  appointment  is  made,  I  shall  feel 
greatly  obliged." 

Ruth  smiled  and  replied,  "  If  you  only  knew,  sir,  our 
experience  with  new  patients,  you  .would  not  hesitate 
to  ask  such  a  favor.  We  are  generally  sent  for  as  the 
last  resort,  after  the  doctors  have  given  up  the  patient; 
we  are  only  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  forlorn  hope ;  " 
then  with  a  sigh  she  added,  "  but  this  is  our  mission. 
It  was  very  much  in  this  way  they  brought  the  sick  to 
Jesus,  yet  he  healed  them.  Therefore,  we,  Christian 
scientists,  are  not  willing  to  refuse  any  such  call." 

Mortimer  hurried  back  to  the  Duponts,  and  as  he 
anticipated,  a  storm  burst  when  he  told  Alice  that  the 
mind  doctress  was  a  young  girl.  "  Some  particular 
friend  of  yours,  I  suppose,"  said  Alice,  with  a  contemp 
tuous  air.  Mortimer  answered  with  some  spirit,  "  I 
give  you  my  word,  Alice,  I  never  heard  of  Miss  Page 
until  yesterday,  and  never  saw  her  before  to-day.  I 
am  trying  to  show  my  love  for  you,  and  feel  hurt  that 
you  repay  it  with  such  suspicions.  I  have  done  all  that 
I  intend  to  do  in  this  matter.  You  can  see  or  refuse 
to  see  this  lady,  but  please,  at  least,  tell  me  your 
decision." 


32  RUTH,   THE   CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

Alice's  curiosity  had  been  too  much  excited  to  give 
up  trying  the  mind-cure  and  she  replied,  "  Excuse  me, 
William,  I  know  I  am  foolish,  but  you  know  I  am 
weak,  my  nerves  are  unstrung,  and  my  very  love  for 
you  makes  me  fearfully  jealous.  Now,  bring  this  Miss 
Page  and  I  will  promise  to  behave  myself  and  give  her 
treatment  a  fair  trial." 

Mortimer  hastened  back  to  the  fair  doctress  and 
made  an  appointment  for  her  to  visit  Alice. 

"  Shall  I  send  a  carriage  for  you?  "  he  asked.  "  No, 
thank  you,"  said  Ruth,  "  I  will  come  in  my  own,"  and, 
seeing  the  evident  surprise  of  Mortimer,  she  added, 
"  We  professors  of  Christian  science  are  not  angels  who 
fly  nor  mortals  too  poor  to  ride.  We  are  simply  the 
children  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  who  try  to  lead  His 
other  children  to  see  and  take  the  good  things  He  has 
in  store  for  them." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  33 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE     FIRST     TRIAL     ON     ALICE     DUPONT     OF     RUTH'S 
TREATMENT. 

At  the  appointed  hour  a  rather  stylish  doctor's 
carriage  stopped  at  the  Duponts'  home.  Mrs.  Dupont, 
who  had  been  watching  from  the  window,  gave  an 
exclamation  of  surprise  as  she  saw  alight  from  it  a  very 
well  dressed  young  lady.  "  Well,  we  are  committed  to 
the  experiment,"  she  said  to  herself,  "  and  we  must  see 
it  through."  So  she  went  down  to  the  parlor,  and 
having  courteously  welcomed  Miss  Page,  escorted  her 
to  Alice's  room.  Alice  had  insisted  that  Mortimer 
should  be  present.  The  fact  was,  she  had  not  quite 
got  over  her  suspicion.  She  would  like  to  see  how  he 
met  this  mind-doctress.  Her  jealousy  was  rather 
stimulated  by  Ruth's  appearance,  for  though  Mortimer 
had  prepared  her  for  the  youth  of  Ruth,  he  had  not  for 
her  beauty.  She  shot  an  angry  glance  at  Mortimer, 
who,  however,  pretended  to  be  perfectly  unconscious 
of  it,  and  having  merely  bowed  to  Ruth,  took  his  seat 
in  the  further  part  of  the  room.  Ruth  seemed  a  little 
disconcerted  by  Alice's  cool  reception,  but  with  quiet 
dignity  she  took  her  seat  by  her  side,  and  soon 


34  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

succeeded  in  drawing  her  into  conversation.  To  Alice's 
surprise,  the  doctoress  did  not  inquire  after  her  pains  or 
probe  her  physical  condition.  Ruth  addressed  herself 
to  the  morale  of  her  patient,  inquired  what  she  had 
been  doing,  how  spending  her  time,  what  was  her  main 
purpose  in  life.  Alice  began  to  be  interested  by  the 
very  novelty  of  the  whole  affair.  "Why,  you're  a 
strange  doctoress,"  she  said  pleasantly.  "  I  expected 
you  would  diagnose  me  nearly  to  death,  but  you  are 
trying  to  heal  me  simply  by  talking  to  me." 

"  No,"  said  Ruth,  "  I  have  not  begun  my  treatment 
yet." 

"Well,  anyway,"  said  Alice,  "  I  feel  better  already." 

"  Certainly,  because  you  are  drawing  off  your  thoughts 
from  that  body  of  yours.  You  have  been  regarding  it 
as  the  seat  of  what  you  call  disease,  when  '  all  disease 
exists  in  the  mind  as  disturbed  or  inverted  thought/  "  * 
Alice  looked  as  if  she  did  not  grasp  fully  Ruth's 
meaning,  and  the  latter  added,  "What  is  this  body 
which  you  think  is  sick?  It  is  non-sentient  matter 
which  reflects  the  thought  of  disease  existing  in  your 
mind.  Man  was  made  in  the  image  of  God,  and  since 
God  is  a  spirit  and  cannot  be  sick,  therefore,  man,  his 
reflection,  cannot  be  sick  —  all  disease  in  an  error." 

"Why,  Miss  Page!"  exclaimed  Alice,  "Do  you 
mean  to  say  that  all  the  aches,  pains,  inflammations, 
which  I  have  experienced  for  these  many  years,  are 
simply  the  effect  of  imagination,  why,  my  five  senses 
testify  against  such  a  theory." 

"  I  acknowledge,"  answered  Ruth,  "  that  as  long  as 

*  Marston's  Essentials  of  Mental  Healing,  Page  73. 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  35 

you  rest  on  the  testimony  of  your  senses  you  cannot 
realize  the  fact  that  disease  is  an  error ;  but  is  there 
not  a  higher  testimony  than  that  of  our  senses,  and  one 
more  reliable  —  that  is,  truth.  To  your  eye  this  earth 
is  flat.  Truth  demonstrates  it  to  be  round.  To  your 
eye  the  sun  moves  from  east  to  west,  while  the  fact  is 
the  earth  on  which  you  stand  is  moving." 

"Well,  what  do  you  want  me  to  believe  in?"  said 
Alice,  completely  bewildered. 

"Just  remain  quiet  and  listen  and  try  to  fix  your 
mind  on  these  truths.  Remember  that  God  is  love, 
that  he  has  the  most  sincere  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
his  creatures,  that  he  does  not  want  them  to  be  sick, 
but  well  and  happy,  so  that  they  may  enjoy  the  good 
things  he  has  so  liberally  provided  for  them.  Remem 
ber  how  Jesus,  when  on  earth,  cured  the  sick.  It  is 
said  that  they  were  '  possessed  with  divers  diseases,' 
now  it  would  not  be  wonderful  if  some  were  affected 
like  yourself.  Try  to  take  your  thoughts  off  your 
body,  your  mind  is  all  right,  and  your  mind  is  what 
really  rules  the  body,  why  should  it  not  command  the 
body,  thus  making  it  yield  obedience  to  its  lawful 
sovereign?  In  thinking  of  God,  remember  that  'we 
are  his  offspring,'  for  Paul  quotes  this  saying  of  a 
heathen  poet,  and  commends  it:  *  The  offspring  must 
be  like  the  parent.'  What  is  the  great  Father  of  us  all, 
—  a  spirit.  Does  not  the  Bible  say,  '  God  is  a  spirit?' 
Why,  then,  regard  your  pains  as  the  production  of 
diseased  matter,  even  if  there  were  such  a  thing  as 
matter  it  would  have  to  be  subordinate  to  spirit.  Shall 
the  servant  command  the  master  or  the  master  the 


3  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

servant?  Think  of  God,  of  how  he  loves  you,  and 
desires  you  to  be  well,  so  that  you  can  yield  your 
powers  to  his  service.  All  disease  is  in  the  mind, 
change  the  thought,  and  let  your  mind  be  filled  with 
the  truth  of  God." 

Alice  listened  at  first  carelessly,  but  soon  became 
deeply  interested.  Whether  she  could  understand  it 
or  not,  here  was  something  entirely  new.  Instead  of 
feeling  her  pulse,  looking  at  her  tongue,  and  poking 
her  ribs,  here  was  a  doctress  who  laid  her  hand  on  her 
mental  faculties,  inspected  her  heart,  and  drew  her  out 
of  herself.  She  tried  to  follow  the  leadings  of  her 
teacher,  for  she  realized  she  was  being  taught,  not 
dosed.  Ruth  having  secured  her  attention  held  it  by 
turning  over  and  over  these  truths,  presenting  them 
now  in  one  light,  then  in  another,  illustrating  them  by 
apt  similes  and  metaphors,  till  at  last  when  Alice  had 
completely  forgotten  herself,  Ruth  asked  Mrs.  Dupont  to 
permit  her  to  be  alone  with  her  daughter  for  a  quarter 
of  an  hour.  Mrs.  Dupont  and  Mortimer  instantly 
retired.  On  their  return  she  found  Alice  sitting  up 
and  looking  quite  bright.  "  Oh,  mother,"  she  exclaimed, 
"  I  feel  better  already,  Miss  Page  has  done  me  a  world 
of  good  !  I  believe  my  aches  and  pains  are  all  gone. 
Why,  I  nearly  forgot  that  I  had  a  body." 

"  Keep  on,  then,  forgetting,"  said  Ruth,  "  and  please 
excuse  me  now,  for  I  have  another  engagement." 

"  Oh,  no,  don't  go  yet,"  said  Alice,  and  forgetting 
her  supposed  invalid  condition  she  actually  rose  from 
her  couch  as  Ruth  herself  rose  to  leave. 

Mortimer  and  Mrs.  Dupont  exchanged  glances  of 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  37 

satisfaction  when  they  saw  this  wonderful  change  in 
Alice.  Mrs.  Dupont,  stepping  forward,  courteously 
said,  "  I  cannot  thank  you  enough,  Miss  Page,  for  your 
kindness  in  coming,  and  for  the  good  you  have  already 
done  my  daughter.  I  hope  you  will  take  her  case  in 
hand  and  continue  visiting  her  until  she  is  entirely 
well." 

"Have  you  any  other  physician  in  attendance?" 
asked  Ruth. 

"  Our  doctor  is  at  present  out  of  the  city,  and  he 
told  us  that  he  would  not  call  again  until  sent  for," 
answered  Mrs.  Dupont. 

Ruth  replied,  "  Excuse  me  for  my  frankness,  Mrs. 
Dupont,  but  I  cannot  attend  your  daughter  unless  I 
have  the  case  alone.  Our  science  discards  the  use  of 
medicine,  and  it's  only  fair  that  we  should  not  be 
interfered  with  by  having  medicine  given  to  our  patients 
while  we  are  treating  them." 

"  But  you  will  let  me  take  my  chloral,"  said  Alice, 
"  I  do  not  think  I  can  sleep  without  it." 

"Have  you  been  taking  chloral?"  said  Ruth,  "  no 
wonder  that  you  have  headaches.  If  I  treat  you,  you 
must  agree  to  bid  good-bye  to  chloral,  and  trust  to  Him 
who  '  giveth  His  beloved  sleep/  When  you  retire 
to-night,  try  to  banish  all  thoughts  of  headache, 
chloral,  etc.,  and  just  believe  that  you  will  and  must 
sleep.  It's  God's  provision  for  his  creatures,  it's  your 
right  to  claim  it  as  such." 

"  But  how  about  the  malaria,"  asked  Alice,  "  Dr. 
Mortar  says  I  am  poisoned  with  malaria,  and  Oh,  Miss 
Page,  if  you  only  knew  what  I  have  suffered  from  that 
awful  disease !" 


38  RUTH,   THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

Ruth  tried  to  suppress  a  smile  while  she  answered, 
"  Our  science  does  not  believe  in  the  existence  of 
malaria." 

"  Blessed  science !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Dupont,  who  had 
unobserved  entered  the  room.  "  Blessed  science  !  If 
you  can  do  away  with  malaria,  Miss  Page,  you  will 
deserve  a  monument  higher  than  the  one  erected  to 
Dr.  Jenner.  You  will  depopulate  the  hospitals,  ruin 
the  Atlantic  steamship  companies,  burst  up  the  apothe 
caries  and  save  me  from  bankruptcy." 

Ruth,  who  had  not  before  met  Mr.  Dupont,  and 
knew  nothing  of  his  family  experiences,  looked  puzzled. 
Alice  felt  deeply  mortified,  and  walking  up  to  her 
father,  said,  "  Father,  you  forget  that  this  lady  is  a 
stranger  to  us.  Miss  Page,  let  me  introduce  you  to 
my  father.  He  no  doubt  appreciates  your  skill  though 
he  takes  this  mode  of  expressing  it." 

" Appreciate  Miss  Page!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Dupont, 
"  certainly  I  ought  to,  for  I  left  you,  Alice,  this 
morning,  in  bed  with  a  raging  headache,  talking  of 
nothing  but  dying,  and  here  you  are  on  you  feet 
walking  around  the  room  and  looking  as  if  you  had 
experienced  a  resurrection.  Miss  Page,  please  put  my 
daughter  on  your  visiting  list  and  send  me  the  bill,  and 
if  she  continues  to  improve  as  she  has  begun,  it  will  be 
the  most  satisfactory  bill  I  have  ever  settled." 

Ruth  simply  bowed  and  took  her  departure.  Morti 
mer  had  said  nothing,  but  as  Ruth  turned  to  leave  the 
room  their  eyes  met.  Mortimer  gave  her  a  look  of 
grateful  appreciation.  Alice,  who  had  turned  to  look 
for  Mortimer,  caught  the  expression  of  his  face.  She 


OR,    THE   NEW    HYGEIA.  39 

appeared  very  much  disturbed.  "  I  believe,"  she  said, 
"  my  pains  are  coming  back." 

"  Oh,  don't  think  that,"  said  Mortimer,  you  are  so 
much  better,  Alice,  that  I  can  now  leave  you  for  a  little 
while.  I  want  to  take  a  trip  to  the  Catskills  with 
my  friend,  Arthur  Strong,  and  then  visit  a  friend  at 
Falkill-on-the-Hudson.  In  the  meanwhile,  you  can  try 
this  mind-cure  treatment." 

Alice  somehow  felt  relieved  at  Mortimers  proposed 
absence,  and  as  he  fulfilled  his  promise  to  write  her 
every  day,  and  packed  his  letters  full  of  the  most 
tender  sentiments,  she  forgot  her  jealousy  and  yielded 
herself  implicitly  to  Ruth's  treatment,  who  succeeded 
also  in  making  Alice  forget  herself. 

After  the  others  had  left,  Mrs.  Dupont  said,  "  Alice, 
what  did  Miss  Page  do  to  you  while  we  were  out  of 
the  room?" 

"  Why,  nothing  particular,  she  simply  bade  me  put 
myself  in  a  receptive  attitude  and  sat  near  me  resting 
her  arm  on  the  table  and  shading  her  eyes  with  her 
hand.  But  somehow  I  thought  I  was  being  healed, 
and,  really,  after  she  got  through  her  prayer  or  medita 
tion  or  whatever  else  it  might  have  been,  I  felt  quite 
well.  Queer,  isn't  it  mother?  " 

"  Decidedly  so,"  answered  Mrs.  Dupont  with  a 
rather  dubious  smile. 


4O  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER  V. 

A  MATERIALIST  TRIES   TO   EXPLAIN  THE   MIND-CURE. 

If  you  want  to  find  wisdom  personified,  at  least  in 
the  person's  estimation  of  himself,  seek  a  young  man 
who  has  passed  through  the  following  experiences — 
let  him  stand  first  in  his  preparatory  school,  then 
graduate  as  the  honor-man  in  a  college,  which  is 
regarded  as  the  ultima  thule  of  scientific  and  literary 
knowledge.  Let  his  specialty  be  the  department  of 
philosophy,  he  having  dipped  deeply  into  psychology, 
ethics,  and  mental  science.  Let  him  write  his  thesis 
on  the  philosophy  of  Mills  and  Spencer,  and  receive 
for  it  the  flattering  comment  of  his  president  and 
professors.  Then  let  him  be  sent  to  Germany  to 
pursue  a  post  graduate  course,  in  which  he  mounts  his 
favorite  hobby  and  rides  it  for  a  couple  of  years, 
winning  at  last  his  degree  by  some  metaphysical 
discussion  on  the  cognative  powers,  or  if  he  be 
medically  inclined,  on  some  subject  in  physiological 
psychology,  for  example, —  "  The  General  Problems  of 
the  origin  and  transmission  of  Nervous  Force  and  the 
Functions  of  the  Peripheral  Nerves." 

Now  let  him  return  to  his  native  land  with  a  conviction 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  41 

of  the  vast  advancement  of  the  German  metaphysical 
mind  over  the  dull,  money-making  brain  of  the  Yankee. 
In  short,  let  him  be  ground  between  this  upper  mill 
stone  of  psychological  learning  and  the  lower  one  of 
inordinate  self-esteem  and  there  will  come  out  the 
finest  of  the  wheat  in  the  shape  of  a  self-opinionated 
oracle.  Take  this  mental  photograph  and  hang  it  up* 
in  the  chambers  of  memory,  for  we  want  it  to  aid  you 
in  recognising  Mortimer's  friend,  Arthur  Strong. 

Let  justice,  however,  be  done  to  Dr.  Strong  by 
stating  that,  owing  to  his  sedulous  attention  to  study 
and  practice,  he  lacked  that  contact  with  the  world 
which  helps  take  a  man's  conceit  out  of  him,  by  its 
matter-of-fact  view  of  things,  philosophy  and  psychology 
included.  Let  it  be  added  though  occasionally  he 
exchanged  his  quiet  student  ways  for  glimpses  of  life, 
high  and  low,  his  morals  were  intact  even  if  his  mind 
was  skeptical,  for  his  was  that  skepticism  which  shows 
itself,  not  so  much  in  direct  antagonism  to  religion,  as 
in  the  patronizing  air  with  which  it  regards  the  Supreme 
Being.  Dr.  Strong  was  too  much  of  a  gentleman  to 
swear,  but  too  much  of  an  embryo  scientist  not  to 
scoff.  He  was  not  exactly  the  companion  one  would 
have  chosen  for  Mortimer,  in  the  inquiring  state  of  the 
latter's  mind.  But  they  were  old  college  chums,  and 
college  friendships  often  ignore  the  matter  of  a  man's 
belief,  so  that  he  only  be  congenial. 

The  doctor  was  beginning  to  gather  patients  for  his 
visiting  list,  but  as  yet  was  not  so  overburdened  with 
them  but  that  he  could  allow  himself  a  short  vacation. 
He,  therefore,  at  once  fell  in  with  Mortimer's  plan  of 


42  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

spending  a  few  weeks  in  some  quiet  place  in  the 
Catskills.  Mortimer,  who  had  great  respect  for  Dr. 
Strong's  metaphysical  knowledge,  was  glad  of  this  op 
portunity  of  sounding  him  on  the  subject  of  the  mind- 
cure.  So  after  they  got  fairly  settled  down  in  their 
quiet  country  home,  Mortimer  told  his  friend  about  the 
experiment  of  the  mind-cure  on  Alice.  He  gave  a 
vivid  account  of  his  interview  with  Ruth,  ending  with  a 
panegyric  on  her  beauty,  which  led  the  doctor  to  say, 
"  Look  out,  young  fellow,  else  Alice  may  have  to  keep 
a  careful  look  on  you." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Mortimer  with  a  laugh,  "  I  am 
interested  in  this  doctoress  only  so  far  as  she  may 
benefit  Miss  Dupont;  but  tell  me  frankly  what  you 
think  of  this  mind-cure  or  Christian  Science." 

The  doctor,  assuming  a  thoughtful  mien  and  pausing 
to  knock  the  ashes  out  of  his  German  student's  pipe, 
answered,  "  There  is  nothing  remarkable  in  this  case  or 
in  this  treatment.  It  is  simply  utilizing  a  subjective 
mental  state,  in  which  the  attention  is  called  off  from 
the  disease  and  concentrated  on  some  other  object, 
which  has  for  the  time  a  greater  power  than  the  disease. 
Fichte  and  Hegel,  whom  I  regard  as  the  best  German 
metaphysicians,  hold  that  the  notion  we  have  of 
external  things  is  purely  subjective  —  " 

"  Now  do  come  down  from  your  pedestal,"  interrupted 
Mortimer.  "You  must  remember  I  know  nothing 
about  German  metaphysics.  Talk  of  something  I  can 
comprehend." 

"Well,"  said  the  doctor,  condescendingly,  evidently 
pleased  with  what  he  considered  an  acknowledgment  of 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  43 

his  superior  learning,  "  I  will  try  to  make  it  as  plain  to 
you  as  A,  B,  C.  The  mind,  you  know,  is  a  great 
power  in  man.  I  use  the  term  mind  in  a  general 
sense,  as  comprehending  the  will,  affections,  and  what 
men  call  the  soul.  This  is  not  strictly  correct,  but  it 
will  serve  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  subject  within 
your  comprehension.  Now,  the  mind  can  act  on  itself 
in  normal  relations  and  this  we  term  reason ;  or  it  can 
act  abnormally,  exceeding  the  bounds  of  reason,  under 
this  we  would  class  imaginations,  hallucinations,  etc. 
Then  the  mind  can  act  on  other  minds  and  can  convey 
its  power  of  imagination  to  them  —  a  sort  of  mental 
contagion,  so  to  speak,  and  often  as  deleterious  to 
other  minds  as  the  leper's  touch  to  the  body.  That  is, 
when  the  mind  thus  acting  is  itself  in  an  abnormal 
condition." 

"  But  will  imagination  cure  a  headache?  " 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  doctor. 

"  Yes,"  argued  Mortimer,  "  but  would  it  make  a  girl, 
who  has  been  sick  for  months,  sit  up  and  even  walk 
down  stairs,  after  a  week's  treatment,  for  I  received  a 
letter  from  Alice  to-day  saying  she  is  now  able  to  go 
down  to  dinner." 

!  "  Ah,  my  friend,"  said  the  doctor,  condescendingly, 
"If  you  had  studied  mental  physiology  as  thoroughly 
as  I  have,  you  would  not  ask  what  imagination  could 
do,  but  rather  what  it  cannot  do.  Faith  is  more 
powerful  than  physic.  A  bread  pill  has  often  been  as 
efficacious  as.  a  dose  of  castor-oil.  Still,  we  materialists 
hold  that  the  mind  cannot  act  except  under  the  laws 
of  nature ;  for  example,  the  bread  pill  to  purge  must, 


44  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

like  the  oil,  excite  the  peristaltic  action  of  the  bowels. 
So  with  many  other  wonderful  cures  wrought  through 
the  mind ;  you  can  trace  them  all  up  to  the  laws  of 
nature.  Take  this  illustration, —  Holding  a  ruler  in  my 
hand  I  point  it  to  a  certain  part  of  a  person's  body 
where  pain  is  located.  I  first  impress  the  patient  with 
the  idea  that  there's  a  certain  healing  virtue  in  that  ruler. 
I  have  thus  stimulated  four  mental  faculties,  each  of 
which  is  able  to  produce  great  effects  on  the  body: 
First,  attention;  this  can  direct  the  nervous  force  and 
blood  to  the  affected  part.  Second,  expectation,  which 
enlists  the  strong  power  of  the  will.  Third,  emotion, 
the  awakening  of  which  is  like  Eolus  opening  his  cave 
of  winds,  sweeping  everything  before  it.  Fourth  (if 
the  man  be  a  Christian  theist),  I  have  appealed  to  his 
faith  and  hope.  We  will  suppose  the  man  cured — but 
by  what?  Not  by  any  virtue  in  that  ruler,  but  by 
utilizing  certain  elements  in  his  nature.  The  performer 
has  simply  played  on  the  man's  physical  make-up,  and 
by  certain  skilful  combinations  of  cords  has  produced 
a  new  air.  Thus  the  mind-curers,  after  all,  use  the  old 
instrument  —  the  body.  I  give  them  credit  for  pro 
ducing  a  new  operetta." 

"  It  seems  to  me,  then,"  said  Mortimer,  "  that  the 
question  is  not  whether  the  mind  acts  on  the  body,  but 
how  it  acts  on  the  body.  I  do  not  see,  even  according 
to  your  own  reasoning,  but  that  the  mind  might  so 
assert  its  power  as  to  hold  the  body  completely  under 
its  control." 

"  Not  quite  that,"  replied  the  doctor,  "  because  there 
are  certain  points  beyond  which  the  mind  cannot  go  in 


OR,    THK    NEW   HYGEIA.  45 

its  control  over  the  body.  This  is  a  point  you  have 
got  to  keep  in  view,  Mortimer,  in  weighing  testimony 
about  the  mind-cure.  Allow  all  the  power  you  choose 
to  the  mind,  but  remember  it  is  enshrined  in  a  human 
body  which  can  assert  its  own  power." 

"  True,"  said  Mortimer,  laughing,  "  for  that  sourkrout 
which  our  landlady  foisted  on  me  at  dinner  makes  it 
impossible  for  me  to  grasp  all  the  intricate  distinctions 
of  your  superior  mind,  which,  luckily,  has  not  to 
wrestle  with  a  disordered  stomach.  But  let  us  come 
to  the  point.  What  power  has  imagination  over  the 
body, —  is  it  purely  deceptive,  or  is  it  strong  enough  to 
accomplish  a  real  result  from  an  imaginary  cause  ?  " 

"  Certainly  the  latter,"  answered  Arthur,  "  I  could 
spend  the  evening  in  citing  cases  where  pure  imagination 
has  worked  the  most  wonderful  effects  on  the  body. 
There  was  that  well  authenticated  experiment  in  France 
on  a  man  condemned  to  die.  The  doctors  first  tied 
the  man  down  and  proceeded  ostensibly  to  bleed  him 
to  death.  Placing  his  arm  in  a  position  where  he  could 
not  see  it,  they  pricked  it  with  a  lancet,  taking  care  not 
to  bring  any  blood,  still,  by  letting  a  stream  of  warm 
water  trickle  down  the  arm,  they  produced  the  im 
pression  on  the  man's  mind  that  they  had  actually 
opened  a  vein.  Then  with  their  hands  on  his  pulse 
they  pretended  to  note  the  gradual  outflow  of  his  life's 
blood.  They  occasionally  made  such  remarks  as  these, 
'  See  !  he  is  gradually  growing  weaker/  '  Guess  he  will 
not  live  much  longer/  '  See !  he  is  almost  gone/  and  go 
the  man  did,  at  least  his  life  went,  for  he  gradually 
sank  and  died." 


46  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

"Well,  I  think,"  said  Mortimer,  "that  the  Coroner's 
verdict  ought  to  have  been,  '  Died  by  the  hands  of  the 
doctors.' " 

"  Yes,"  answered  Strong,  "  nevertheless  it  is  true  that 
the  instrument  they  used  for  their  professional  murder 
was  simply  the  man's  imagination.  Then,  there's  a 
similar  case  narrated  in  the  London  Medical  Times. 
Some  convicts  were  permitted  to  occupy  beds  in  a 
prison  hospital  previously  occupied  by  patients  who 
had  died  of  cholera.  None  of  them  knew  of  this  fact 
and  none  of  them  died.  They  put  other  convicts  in 
new  beds,  in  which  no  one  ever  slept,  but  informed  the 
patients  that  they  had  been  previously  occupied  by 
cholera  patients.  The  Medical  Times  states  that  '  three 
of  the  four  convicts  immediately  were  seized  with 
cholera  in  its  most  malignant  form  and  died  within  four 
hours.'  I  have  also  seen  somewhere  an  account  of  a 
man  who  was  led  forth  to  be  shot.  The  soldiers  aimed 
at  him  and  he  fell  dead  at  the  discharge  of  their  guns, 
but  not  a  ball  was  in  one  of  those  guns,  only  blank 
cartridges.  Dr.  Moore,  in  his  treatise  on  the  soul  and 
body,  mentions  the  case  of  a  woman,  who  had  a  dress 
torn  by  a  dog,  she  imagined  the  animal  had  the 
hydrophobia  and  that  the  virus  had  been  communicated 
to  her  person.  She  died  a  short  time  after  with  all  the 
symptoms  of  hydrophobia,  though  it  was  clearly  proven 
that  the  teeth  of  the  dog  never  touched  her  person, 
and,  indeed,  that  the  dog  was  not  mad.  Now,  you  see 
that  all  these  cases  were  connected  with  the  imagination, 
an  abnormal  condition  of  which  accomplished  even  the 
death  of  the  body." 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  47 

"It  seems  to  me,  however,"  said  Mortimer,  "that 
your  argument  either  proves  too  much,  or  else  supports 
the  very  theory  of  the  mind-curers;  for  if  certain 
passions  of  the  mind,  like  fear  and  hatred,  can  produce 
deleterious  effects  on  the  body,  why  may  not  what  may 
be  called  the  good  passions  of  the  mind,  such  as  hope 
and  love  and  faith,  produce  good  effects.  I  believe 
that  some  of  the  grandest  deeds  in  human  history  have 
been  accomplished  by  the  supremacy  of  the  mental 
over  the  corporeal.  Look,  for  example,  at  the  fortitude 
displayed  by  our  Arctic  explorers  in  resisting  cold,  or 
the  African  explorers  in  resisting  heat.  If  history  is 
worthy  of  belief,  Cranmer  first  held  the  hand  which  had 
signed  his  recantation  in  the  flame,  which  was  kindling 
about  his  body,  saying,  *  This  hand  first  offended  and  it 
shall  first  suffer.'  Another  martyr,  in  a  voice  which 
indicated  the  strength  of  his  will-power  and  the  sub 
jection  of  the  corporeal  to  the  spiritual,  exclaimed, 
while  standing  in  the  midst  of  flames  which  were 
consuming  his  body,  'This  fire  is  a  bed  of  roses  to 
me.' " 

"  Still,"  answered  Dr.  Strong,  "  there's  a  point  where 
the  mind  cannot  go  beyond  the  limits  of  nature.  No 
power  of  the  mind  can  keep  the  body  from  starving 
when  deprived  for  a  long  time  of  food.  No  power  of 
the  mind  can  make  '  the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin.' 
Besides,  the  mind  itself  is  sometimes  rendered  powerless 
through  the  state  of  the  brain.  The  most  skilful  mind- 
curer  could  not  rouse  a  patient  out  of  the  stupor  of  a 
brain  poisoned  with  opium,  or  appeal  to  the  moral 
instincts  of  a  raving  maniac." 


48  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"  There  is  another  objection,"  continued  Dr.  Strong, 
"  to  all  this  class  of  beliefs,  namely,  that  they  always 
try  to  ascribe  a  supernatural  element  to  natural  causes. 
In  Germany  I  heard  much  of  the  career  of  Prince 
Hohenloke,  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  Sardica, 
who  claims  to  have  cured  paralytics  by  his  prayers. 
I've  also  seen  peddled  about  the  streets  of  Germany 
bottles  of  water  from  the  famous  grotto  of  '  Massausa- 
velle  at  Lourdes,  France,  where,  in  1858,  the  Virgin 
Mary  is  believed  by  some  to  have  revealed  herself 
repeatedly  to  a  peasant  girl.  I  have  seen  crutches  and 
canes  at  the  shrine  of  saints  who  have  cured  persons  of 
lameness.  I  know  these  are  called  by  different  names, 
—  faith  cures, —  but  after  all,  their  basis  is  in  the  mind, 
and  the  difficulty  is  to  handle  the  mind-cure  without 
running  into  superstition  or  fanaticism.  If  your  mind- 
cure  doctoress  can  do  this,  she  will  be  a  greater  prodigy 
than  Joan  of  Arc,  who,  by  the  by,  I  wonder  that  the 
mind-curers  do  not  adopt  as  their  patron  saint,  for  the 
wonders  she  accomplished  were  largely  due  to  the  hold 
she  obtained  on  the  minds  of  the  French  people." 

"  I  confess,"  said  Mortimer,  "  that  my  acquaintance 
with  Miss  Ruth  Page  has  been  so  brief  that  I  am  not 
able  to  state  clearly  her  theory  of  healing,  though  I 
know  she  claims  a  distinction  between  it  and  cither  faith 
healing  or  mind-cure.  What  do  you  say  to  visiting 
her  yourself?  " 

"  Well,  I  think  I  will,  on  my  return  to  New  York,  if 
you  will  give  me  a  letter  of  introduction.  I  confess 
I  have  a  curiosity  to  see  this  beautiful  priestess  who  sits 
at  the  door  of  the  temple  of  '  Christian  Science.' " 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  49 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MORTIMER  ATTENDS   A  FAITH   HEALING  MEETING,  AND 
MEETS   MRS.   ESTHER   BATES. 

It  was  with  mingled  feelings  that  William  Mortimer 
found  himself  in  the  village  of  Falkill-on-the-Hudson. 
He  had  stopped  there  to  hunt  up  some  facts  about 
his  father,  Eugene  Mortimer.  Since  Mortimer  had 
become  a  lawyer  he  had  carefully  gone  over  his  father's 
papers.  He  knew  little  of  that  father  for  he  died  when 
Mortimer  was  about  two  years  old.  The  aunts  who 
educated  him  spoke  little  about  his  parents,  but 
Mortimer  inferred,  from  some  hints  they  let  drop, 
there  had  been  family  jars  over  his  father's  second 
marriage. 

He  was  surprised,  in  examining  some  of  his  father's 
papers,  to  find  in  an  old  account  book  this  entry: 
"Paid  to  Mary  Mortimer,  my  first  wife,  $50,000." 
"Why  so  large  a  sum?"  thought  Mortimer.  This  set 
him  to  investigating  further,  and  he  found  that  the 
divorce  granted  Eugene  Mortimer  from  this  Mary 
Mortimer  had  been  obtained  in  Chicago.  He  sent  to 
Chicago  and  found  that  the  $50,000  was  paid  Mary 
Mortimer  at  the  time  of  the  divorce.  "  Did  he  buy  her 


JO  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

off  with  this  ?  "  queried  Mortimer.  There  was  some 
thing  mysterious  about  that  $50,000,  —  the  mystery 
deepened  his  interest.  He  tried  to  track  up  this  first 
Mrs.  Mortimer,  but  no  one  knew  her ;  she  had  disap 
peared  immediately  after  the  divorce.  Mortimer's  father 
had  married  again  within  a  year,  and  in  less  than  a  year 
after  that  marriage  the  second  wife  died  in  child-birth, 
William  being  the  son  then  born ;  two  years  more  and 
Eugene  Mortimer  followed  his  second  wife  to  the 
grave. 

The  reason  why  Mortimer  came  to  Falkill  was  that 
his  father  had  resided  on  a  handsome  country  seat  in 
that  neighborhood  many  years  previous  to  his  second 
marriage ;  perchance  he  might  find  some  one  there 
who  knew  his  father's  history.  Mortimer  wanted  these 
things  cleared  up  before  his  marriage  with  Alice,  for 
he  desired  no  family  ghosts  to  haunt  his  domestic 
hearth.  Having  put  up  at  the  quiet  tavern  in  Falkill, 
with  a  lawyer's  ingenuity  he  began  to  question  the 
tavern-keeper  about  the  former  inhabitants  of  the 
neighborhood.  This  man,  however,  could  only  tell 
the  history  of  the  present  inhabitants  for  he  had 
recently  moved  there  himself.  But  he  said  to  Mortimer, 
"  There  is  old  Squire  Hubbard  who  has  lived  here 
for  over  a  half  century,  he  knows  all  about  the  old 
families." 

Mortimer  hired  a  boy  to  drive  over  to  the  Squire's, 
who  lived  with  his  son,  John  Hubbard,  whose  home 
was  a  sort  of  cross  between  a  rural  boarding-house  and 
a  farm.  The  family  consisted  of  the  old  Squire,  his 
son  John  and  Rachael  his  wife,  and  two  young  children, 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  51 

Reuben  and  Sarah.  The  Hubbards  were  Methodists, 
good  disciples  of  John  Wesley,  holding  strictly  to  the 
faith  which  they  regarded  as  the  one  "  first  delivered  to 
the  saints."  Hence  they  had  cleanliness  both  in  their 
hearts  and  home.  It  was  just  the  spot  where  a  lawyer, 
used  to  the  whirl  and  sin  of  a  great  city  like  New  York, 
was  glad  to  rest  both  mind  and  body. 

The  day  after  his  arrival  Mortimer  seated  himself  by 
the  side  of  the  old  Squire,  who  was  smoking  his  pipe 
on  the  front  porch,  and  engaged  him  in  conversation. 
"Your  name  be's  Mortimer,  I  understand,"  said  the 
Squire,  "  well,  be  you  any  relation  to  Eugene  Mortimer 
who  used  to  live  at  Grasslands?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mortimer,  "  I  believe  I  am,  did  you 
know  Eugene  Mortimer?  " 

"  Ah,  well,"  answered  the  old  man,  "  he  was  a  money- 
making  fellow,  rather  close-fisted.  I  remember  selling 
him  a  cow,"  —  and  then  Mortimer  had  to  listen  to  a 
long  story  about  the  bickering  of  the  Squire  with  his 
father  about  that  cow.  After  the  Squire  had  got  all 
through  it,  Mortimer  said,  "  Did  you  know  his  wife?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  Squire,  "  and  she  was  a  lovely  lady." 

"  Which  wife  was  it,"  asked  Mortimer,  "  the  first  or 
the  second?"  The  old  man  at  once  became  confused. 
He  could  tell  all  about  Eugene  Mortimer's  early  life, 
but  he  could  tell  nothing  about  his  marriages  —  only 
knew  that  "  Mrs.  Mortimer  was  a  very  fine  woman." 

Mortimer  thought  to  himself,  "  Here,  in  the  impair 
ment  of  this  old  man's  mind,  is  certainly  an  argument 
for  Dr.  Strong's  theory  that  there  is  a  relation  between 
the  mind  and  the  state  of  the  substance  of  the  brain, 


52  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

for  the  changes  in  the  brain  through  old  age  certainly 
affect  the  mind."  * 

Mortimer  was  in  despair  of  finding  out  any 
thing  about  his  father  from  the  old  Squire,  when  the 
latter  remarked,  as  if  in  a  sort  of  dream,  "  Esther 
Bates  used  to  live  at  Eugene  Mortimer's." 

"Who  is  she?"  asked  Mortimer,  eagerly. 

"  She  be's  the  faith-healer." 

"Where  does  she  live?"  But  again  the  old  man's 
memory  failed,  —  "he  disremembered."  "Mrs.  Hub- 
bard,"  said  Mortimer,  when  they  were  seated  at  the 
tea-table,  "  do  you  know  a  lady  by  the  name  of  Esther 
Bates?" 

*  Dr.  Carpenter's  explanation  of  the  impairment  of  memory  in  old  age  is  as 
follows:    "This  is  in  precise  accordance  with  the  physiological  facts  that  decline 
essentially  consists  in  the  diminution  of  the  formative  activity  of  the  organism, 
which  no  longer  serves  even  for  the  maintenance  of  the  cerebrum,  according  to  the 
model  into  which  it  has  gradually  shaped  itself,  so  that  while  new  modifications  of 
the  acquired  type  are  scarcely  possible,  even  those  of  long  standing  tend  to  fade 
away,  the  original  type  being  the  most  enduring  (Carpenter,  page  347).    It  is  when 
the  brain  is  growing?  that  a  definite  direction  can  be  most  strongly  and  persistently 
given  to  its  structure.    *    *    *    But  as  the  nutritive  activity  diminishes,  the' waste' 
becomes  more  active  than  the  renovation,  and  it  would  seem  that  while  (to  use  a 
commercial  analogy)  the  '  old  established  houses '  keep  their  ground,  these  later 
firms  whose  basis  is  less  secure  are  the  first  to  crumble  away,  the  nutritive  activity 
which  yet  suffices  to  maintain  the  original  structure  not  being  capable  of  keeping 
the  subsequent  additions  to  it  in  working  force,     (idem.,  page  442.)  " 

The  connection  between  the  memory  of  a  particular  class  of  ideas  and  the 
structural  soundness  of  the  brain  is  illustrated  by  many  examples  of  persons  losing 
their  memory  after  a  blow  on  the  head.  Thus  a  case  was  recorded  by  Dr.  Beattie, 
of  a  gentleman  who,  after  a  blow  on  the  head,  found  that  he  had  lost  his  knowledge 
of  Greek,  though  his  memory  did  not  appear  to  have  suffered  in  any  other 
particular.  A  similar  case  is  recorded  by  Dr.  Carpenter,  in  which  "a  lad  who  lay 
for  three  days  insensible,  in  consequence  of  a  severe  blow  on  the  head,  found 
himself  on  recovering  to  have  lost  all  the  music  he  had  learned,  though  nothing 
else  had  been  thus  knocked  out  of  him." 

Several  other  similar  cases  might  be  adduced,  which  all  seem  to  prove  that  the 
faculties  of  the  mind  have  intimate  connection  with  the  state  of  the  substance  of  the 
brain. 

*  Principles  of  Mental  Physiology,  William  B.  Carpenter,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  etc., 
Registrar  of  the  University  of  London. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  53 

"  Yes,  if  you  mean  Esther  Bates,  the  faith-healer." 

" Where  does  she  live?"  asked  Mortimer. 

"  Why,  she  is  in  our  neighborhood  now,  attending 
the  camp-meeting  at  Pine  Grove." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  interrupted  the  old  man,  "  Esther  Bates  ! 
why,  she  called  here  yesterday,  she's  been  exhorting  at 
the  camp-meeting." 

The  association  of  thought  between  Esther  and  the 
camp-meeting  had  furnished  a  clue  for  the  brain  to 
work  again  in  the  track  of  memory.  * 

"How  far  is  Pine  Grove?"  asked  Mortimer  of  Mrs. 
Hubbard. 

"  Only  a  mile  distant." 

"Well,"  said  Mortimer,  carelessly,  "I  think  I  will  go 
over  there  to-night ;  will  you  also  attend,  Mr.  Hubbard  ?  " 

"  No,  we  cannot  go  to-night,  but  Reubie  will  show 
you  the  way." 

So  that  evening  Mortimer  sauntered  over  to  the 
camp-meeting,  taking  as  his  guide  the  ten-year-old  boy 
Reuben.  He  soon  found  himself  in  the  sacred  precincts 
of  their  rustic  tabernacle,  which  was  a  simple  structure, 
open  on  all  sides  to  the  weather,  with  a  rude  covering 
of  pine  branches.  At  one  end  was  a  platform  on  which 
were  seated  some  ministers  and  lay  preachers,  and  in 
their  midst  a  sweet  faced  woman  of  about  fifty.  "  Is 
that  Esther  Bates?"  whispered  Mortimer  to  young 
Reuben. 

*  This  sudden  reproduction  of  lost  ideas  is  one  of  the  most  curious  phenomena 
in  man's  nature.  It  seems  to  be  owing  to  one  of  two  causes, —  either  the  mind  is 
weary  and  has  to  rest  to  regain  its  power  of  recollection ;  or  the  automatic  cerebral 
action  is  excited  by  an  idea,  which  by  the  law  of  association  calls  up  and  supplies 
the  "  missing  link  "  in  the  chain  of  memory.  Thus  we  often  feel  mortified  at  not 
being  able  to  speak  the  name  of  the  person  we  meet,  but  while  conversing  some 
word  spoken  will  recall,  "  all  of  a  sudden  "  as  we  say,  the  person's  name. 


54  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"  Yes,"  answered  Reuben  at  the  top  of  his  voice  and 
pointing  with  his  hand,  "  there  she  is  in  the  centre  of 
the  men  on  the  stand !"  Reuben's  rejoinder  was 
evidently  heard  by  Sister  Bates,  for  she  looked  fixedly 
at  Mortimer,  as  if  inferring  Reubie's  inquiry  to  be 
prompted  by  Mortimer's  anxiety  about  his  own  soul. 
Mortimer  was  exceedingly  annoyed,  the  more  so,  as  he 
discovered  Reubie's  loud  whisper  had  drawn  upon 
himself  general  attention.  "  Well,  thought  Mortimer, 
"I  am  fated;  I  have  just  been  patronizing  the  '  mind- 
cure  '  and  now  I  am  considered  a  hopeful  subject  of 
'  faith-healing.' "  But  he  settled  down  resignedly  to 
listen  to  what  might  be  said. 

After  the  usual  preliminary  exercises  of  prayer  and 
praise  Esther  arose.  Her  motherly,  benevolent  face, 
the  kind  accents  of  her  voice,  soon  won  Mortimer's 
attention,  and  unconsciously  he  became  one  of  her 
most  interested  auditors. 

She  began  her  talk  by  saying  in  an  easy  conversational 
tone,  "  I  want,  my  friends,  to  speak  to  you  of  the  Great 
Physician.  Some  of  you  have  already  been  made  well 
by  him,  some  of  you  are  coming  to  place  yourselves 
under  his  treatment,  perhaps  there  are  others,"  — 
here  she  paused,  and  Mortimer  thought  her  eye  rested 
on  him,  —  "who  are  sick,  yet  think  they  are  well,  who 
need  to  be  convinced  of  their  leprosy  of  sin,  so  that, 
like  the  lepers  of  old,  they  may  cry,  *  Lord,  if  Thou  wilt, 
Thou  canst  make  me  clean.'  To  the  first  class,  those 
who  have  been  made  whole,  I  would  only  say,  it  is 
your  duty  to  witness  for  the  Lord;  go,  then,  as  did  the 
woman  of  Samaria  and  bid  your  companions  '  come 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  55 

and  see '  this  blessed  Savior  who  has  cleansed  you  from 
your  sins.  To  the  second  class,  the  inquirers,  I  would 
say,  as  did  Christ's  disciples  to  the  blind  man,  *  Be  of 
good  comfort,  rise,  he  calleth  thee.'  Jesus  with  out 
stretched  arms  (and  she  stretched  out  her  own  arms 
and  looked  at  her  audience  with  intense  feeling)  is 
waiting  for  you  to  come  and  cast  yourself  with  your 
sins  on  him." 

Several  left  their  seats  and  came  forward  and  were 
immediately  surrounded  by  the  brethren,  who  seemed 
to  be  trying  to  counsel  their  anxious  hearts.  Esther, 
without  pausing  to  notice  these,  proceeded:  "  But  my 
chief  errand  here  to-day  is  to  speak  to  the  third  class ; 
those  who  are  sick  in  heart,  and,  perhaps,  also  sick  in 
body.  You  have  come  here  to-day,  led  by  an  influence 
which  you  feel  but  cannot  describe.  I  will  tell  you 
what  it  is :  it  is  the  Spirit  of  God  trying  to  lead  you  to 
the  Savior.  Yet,  strange,  is  it  not,  you  hesitate  to 
come  to  Christ,  though  you  know  you  are  sick  in  heart 
and  perhaps  in  body?  Strange,  is  it  not,  for  even  the 
Jews,  without  a  New  Testament,  like  you  have,  to  tell 
them  of  Christ,  the  Great  Physician,  yet  brought  their 
sick  to  Him,  and  the  record  tells  us  that  '  He  healed 
them  all' 

"  Now  let  me  ask  you  to  look  with  me  into  this  Bible 
and  see  what  power  this  Great  Physician  has.  I  will 
turn  to  the  twenty-sixth  chapter  of  Matthew  and  read 
His  own  words,  '  All  power/  notice,  all,  '  is  given  to  me 
in  heaven  and  in  earth.'  There  is  nothing,  then,  that 
He  is  not  able  to  do.  Think  of  this,  ye  that  have 
sin-sick  souls  and  bodies,  '  all  power  !  '  No  minister  of 


56  RUTH,   THE   CHRISTIAN  SCIENTIST, 

the  Gospel,  however  good,  no  priest  can  say  this,  no 
physician  who  uses  medicine  can  say  this.  The  doctor 
often  has  to  say,  '  This  is  a  case  beyond  the  reach  of 
my  skill.'  But  Jesus  says  that  nothing  is  beyond  the 
reach  of  his  skill,  for  he  declares,  *  All  power  is  given 
to  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.' 

"  Now,  you  may  ask  what  must  a  person  do  to  get 
Christ  to  exert  this  power?  I  turn  to  my  Bible  again 
and  find  everywhere  written  over  it  this  single  command 
— '  Believe.'  Hear  what  Christ  himself  says  about  this, 
*  He  that  believeth  shall  be  saved.'  See  what  power 
faith  has  in  the  curing  of  the  body,  for  we  are  told  that 
a  father  brought  his  sick  child  to  Christ.  Jesus  said  to 
that  father,  '  If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible 
to  him  that  believeth.'  Notice  again  all  things.  Well, 
then,  if  this  father  could  only  exercise  faith  the  child 
would  be  healed.  He  did  try  to  exercise  it,  for  we  are 
told  that  '  straightway  the  father  of  the  child  cried  out 
and  said  with  tears,'  —  see  how  in  earnest  that  father 
was,  —  'Lord,  I  believe,  help  Thou  my  unbelief;  '  and 
observe,  immediately  Christ  healed  that  man's  child. 

"Now,  my  friends,  that  Great  Physician  is  here  to-day, 
for  has  he  not  said,  *  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered 
together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them.' 
He  is  here  to  heal  the  sick  in  soul  and  in  body.  He 
can  say  to  the  former,  '  Go  in  peace,  thy  sins,  though 
many,  are  all  forgiven  thee,'  and  to  the  latter,  *  Rise, 
take  up  thy  bed  and  walk.'  "  Then,  with  an  earnestness 
and  pathos  which  brought  tears  to  many  eyes,  she 
pictured  the  Savior  entering  that  very  meeting  and 
stopping  before  the  seat  of  each  person,  saying,  "  What 
wilt  thou  that  I  shall  do  unto  thee  ?  " 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  57 

Mortimer  had  been  so  much  interested  in  Esther's 
discourse  that  he  gazed  steadily  on  her  while  speaking. 
This  attracted  the  attention  of  the  speaker,  and  she 
concluded  that  Mortimer  was  in  an  "  inquiring  state." 
After  she  had  closed  her  exhortation  she  nodded  to 
some  one  to  commence  a  hymn.  Soon  from  a  hundred 
voices  went  up  the  strain : 

"  Come,  humble  sinner,  in  whose  breast 

A  thousand  thoughts  revolve, 
Come  with  thy  sins  and  fears  oppressed, 

And  make  this  last  resolve." 

While  the  singing  went  on,  Esther  stepped  from  the 
platform  and  walked  down  the  aisle.  Mortimer's  eye 
followed  with  curiosity  to  see  what  she  would  do  next. 
To  his  utter  surprise  she  halted  at  his  seat,  laid  her 
hand  upon  his  shoulder  and  fixing  on  him  a  searching 
gaze,  said,  "  Young  man,  wilt  thou  be  made  whole  by 
Jesus  to-day?"  Mortimer  was  so  taken  aback  that  he 
hardly  knew  what  to  say.  His  face  reddened  as  he 
found  himself  the  subject  of  gaze  of  those  around  him. 
Esther  interpreting  this  as  "  conviction,"  said  tenderly, 
"  Ah,  my  friend,  I  see  your  conscience  echoes  the  call 
of  Jesus." 

Mortimer  drew  himself  up  and  answered  firmly, 
though  kindly,  "  Madam,  I  am  much  obliged  for  your 
interest  in  me,  but  I  must  frankly  tell  you  I  came  here 
simply  to  study  your  faith-cure ;  I  am  not  what  you 
would  call  an  *  inquirer.'  " 

Esther  looked  disappointed,  but  said  in  a  gentle  tone, 
"  Perhaps,  then,  you  have  some  bodily  ailment  that  has 
led  you  to  come  here." 


58  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

Mortimer,  repressing  a  smile,  answered,  "  No,  madam, 
I  believe  I  am  perfectly  well ;  indeed,  I  am  here  more 
out  of  curiosity  than  anything  else." 

"  That  may  be,"  answered  Esther,  "  but  we  find 
many  who  come  to  our  camp-meeting  merely  from 
curiosity  do  not  leave  without  having  a  sincere  desire 
to  find  the  Great  Physician."  Then  fixing  a  searching 
glance  on  him,  she  added,  "  Cannot  I  induce  you,  my 
young  friend,  to  now  attend  to  the  great  question  of 
your  soul's  salvation?  " 

Mortimer  began  to  feel  very  uncomfortable.  He  did 
not  want  to  appear  rude  enough  to  break  away  from 
her,  but  he  longed  to  leave  the  camp-meeting.  Fortun 
ately,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  just  then  his  young  companion 
furnished  a  means  of  escape.  For  Reubie  had  fallen 
fast  asleep  and  was  beginning  to  disturb  the  meeting 
by  snores  which  almost  drowned  the  singing.  Morti 
mer  woke  up  the  youthful  disturber  of  the  peace,  but 
in  such  an  abrupt  manner  that  the  child  was  terrified 
and  set  up  a  loud  cry.  This  gave  Mortimer  an  excuse 
for  leading  him  out  of  the  meeting.  Esther  looked 
very  much  disappointed  as  Mortimer  rose  to  go,  but 
her  face  brightened  as  he  turned  and  whispered  to  her, 
"  I  want  to  see  you  again.  Could  I  trouble  you  to  call 
on  me  at  Squire  Hubbard's." 

"  Certainly,"  said  Esther,  "  I  will  be  there  to-morrow 
morning." 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  59 


CHAPTER    VII. 

ESTHER'S  REVELATIONS  ABOUT  MORTIMER'S  PARENT 
AGE. 

The  next  morning  Mortimer  was  on  the  outlook  for 
Esther  Bates,  as  he  wanted  to  meet  her  before  she  had 
the  opportunity  of  learning  from  the  Hubbards  his 
name.  Soon  he  spied  her  coming  up  the  lane  ;  strolling 
down  to  meet  her,  he  asked  her  to  be  seated  on  a  bench 
under  a  wide-spreading  oak.  Esther,  not  waiting  for 
Mortimer  to  begin  the  conversation,  asked,  "  How  do 
you  feel  this  morning?" 

"  Very  well,  I  thank  you,"  said  Mortimer. 

Esther,  perceiving  that  Mortimer  did  not  appreciate 
the  spiritual  application  of  her  inquiry,  said,  "  I  had 
hoped  from  your  request  for  me  to  come  and  see  you 
this  morning  that  the  Lord  had  touched  your  heart  last 
night."  And  she  continued  eagerly,  "Young  man,  I 
have  been  praying  for  you  almost  the  whole  night ;  I 
don't  know  why  it  is,  but  I  have  a  feeling  in  my  heart 
that  the  Lord  has  a  special  mission  on  my  part  to  your 
soul ;  there  is  something  in  your  face  that  haunts  me." 

"Well,  my  good  friend,"  answered  Mortimer,  "I  do 
not  want  to  play  the  hypocrite  and  will  tell  you  frankly 


6O  RUTH,   THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

that  it  is  not  about  my  soul  I  wanted  to  see  you.  I 
learned  from  Squire  Hubbard  that  you  formerly  lived 
with  a  family  by  the  name  of  Mortimer,  who  lived  at 
Grasslands;  I  am  a  lawyer  and  am  here  to  make 
inquiries  about  some  matters  concerning  Eugene 
Mortimer." 

"  Is  that  all?  "  said  Esther,  with  an  air  of  disappoint 
ment,  "  Well,  all  I  know  is  there  wras  no  class  which 
our  Savior  so  denounced  as  the  lawyers,  they  were 
always  trying  '  to  catch  him  in  his  words.'  I  don't 
want  you  to  catch  me  and  then  use  me  as  a  witness  in 
some  lawsuit,  I  have  better  things  to  attend  to,  young 
man,"  and  she  rose  to  go. 

But  Mortimer  gently  detained  her  with  —  "  Nay,  stop, 
my  good  friend,  I  do  not  come  with  such  purpose  as 
you  suspect,  I  only  wanted  to  find  out  something  about 
my  father,  for  I  am  Eugene  Mortimer's  son." 

"  You  the  son  of  Eugene  Mortimer !  "  exclaimed 
Esther,  now  becoming  very  much  excited,  "  Is  your 
name  William?"  "Yes."  She  caught  hold  of  him, 
held  him  out  at  arm's  length  and  gazed  intently  into 
his  face.  "  Bless  the  Lord  !  "  she  exclaimed,  "  Now  I 
see  my  prayer  is  answered,  the  Lord  has  indeed  a 
mission  from  me  to  you.  Why,  William  Mortimer,  I 
was  your  mother's  nurse,  these  arms  were  the  ones  in 
which  you  first  rested,  and  e'er  your  mother  expired, 
she  said,  '  Esther,  follow  this  child  with  your  prayers.' 
Oh,  you  dear  soul !  "  and  Esther  fairly  flung  her  arms 
around  Mortimer's  neck  and  wept  on  his  breast. 
Mortimer  was  himself  deeply  moved ;  here  was  indeed 
a  link  between  himself  and  a  knowledge  of  his  mother. 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  6 1 

They  sat  and  talked  long  about  his  mother ;  how  he 
questioned  Esther,  and  what  precious  links  of  memory 
were  reknit!  One  thing  he  noticed, —  Esther  spoke 
very  little  about  his  father.  Indeed,  whenever  he  turned 
the  conversation  on  him,  Esther  appeared  to  be  very 
careful  of  her  speech.  Several  times  she  seemed  on 
the  eve  of  telling  him  something,  then  caught  herself  as 
if  having  something  to  suppress.  At  last,  seeing  that 
the  best  way  to  deal  with  her  was  to  frankly  disclose 
his  errand  to  Falkill,  he  said,  "  Esther,  I  want  to  tell 
you  what  brought  me  here,  but  you  must  first  promise 
not  to  mention  what  I  am  about  to  communicate." 

"  I  will  only  promise,"  said  Esther,  "  if,  after  hearing 
it,  I  find  I  can  rightly  do  so,  for  you  know  nothing 
wrong  can  be  hidden ;  has  not  the  Lord  said  '  He  will 
bring  every  secret  thing  to  judgment/  " 

"  Fortunately,  my  friend,"  said  Mortimer,  "  there  is 
nothing  here  which  will  hurt  your  conscience.  I  will 
tell  you  now  what  I  want  to  find  out.  I  never  knew 
until  recently  that  my  father  was  twice  married."  Then 
Mortimer  detailed  his  discovery  of  that  fact  and  his 
perplexity  on  finding  his  father  paid  his  first  wife 
$50,000  at  the  time  of  their  divorce. 

"  I  knew  very  little  about  the  first  Mrs.  Mortimer," 
answered  Esther,  guardedly,  "  for  she  had  left  your 
father's  roof  a  year  before  I  entered  it." 

"But  did  you  never  hear  my  mother  say  anything 
about  her?" 

Esther  hesitated.  "  William,"  said  she,  "  for  I  must 
call  you  by  your  first  name,  it  reminds  me  of  the  dear 
little  Willie  I  used  to  nurse,  —  William,  I  have  some 


62  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN  SCIENTIST, 

doubt  whether  I  ought  to  answer  that  question,  for  is  a 
child  to  know  about  his  mother's  private  sorrows  ?  " 

"  Well,  Esther,  I  revere  my  mother  as  much  as  you 
do,  but  is  there  not  something  in  this  providence  of  our 
being  thrown  together  which  seems  to  indicate  that  you 
ought  to  tell  me  frankly  about  my  mother,  —  was  she 
not  what  you  would  call  a  Christian  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Esther,  "  she  became  such  shortly 
before  she  died,  her  sorrows  drove  her  to  the  Lord." 

"Well,  what  were  her  sorrows?"  asked  Mortimer, 
eagerly. 

Esther  paused  and  said,  "William,  let  me  have  a 
time  for  silent  prayer;  I  want  to  ask  counsel  of  the 
Lord." 

Mortimer  withdrew  and  loitered  for  some  time  in  a 
neighboring  grove.  On  returning,  he  noticed  Esther's 
countenance  wore  a  very  solemn  look.  It  was  really 
with  a  spirit  of  reverence  that  he  approached  her,  for 
he  felt  he  was  indeed  talking  with  one  who  had  been  in 
communion  with  her  God. 

Beckoning  Mortimer  to  take  a  seat  by  her  side,  she 
began,  —  "William,  I  think  God  has  shown  me  that  it 
is  my  duty  to  tell  you  all  I  know.  When  he  sent 
you  to  me  I  thought  it  was  for  a  very  different  purpose, 
but  '  God's  ways  are  not  as  our  ways.'  I  felt  I  had  a 
message  for  you  and  this  must  be  it,  —  to  tell  you  what 
I  know  about  your  mother's  sorrow." 

Then  she  began :  "  I  entered  your  father's  family 
about  a  month  before  your  mother's  death.  He  was  a 
very  stern  man,  and  grew  to  dislike  me  because  he 
thought  I  made  a  Christian  of  your  mother ;  and  from 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  63 

the  first  she  seemed  to  take  to  me,  as  I  did  to  her. 
She  was  a  very  lovely  lady,  but  rather  sad-faced,  she 
evidently  had  something  on  her  heart.  One  day,  while 
we  were  alone,  she  said,  '  Esther,  I  notice  you  read  the 
Bible  a  great  deal,  I  want  to  ask  your  opinion  about 
this  passage,'  and  she  handed  me  the  Bible  opened  at 
that  verse  where  Christ  says,  '  It  hath  been  said,  who 
soever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  let  him  give  her  a 
writing  of  divorcement;  but  I  say  unto  you,  that 
whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  saving  for  the  cause 
of  fornication,  causes  her  to  commit  adultery.'  '  Now,' 
added  she,  '  Esther,  I  want  to  tell  you  something,  I 
have  found  out,  since  my  marriage  to  my  husband, 
namely,  that  he  put  away  his  first  wife  simply  because 
he  did  not  like  her.  They  never  lived  happily  together, 
she  was  very  strong-willed,  and  you  know  how  strong- 
willed  he  is;  they  had  frequent  quarrels  and  finally 
separated,  and  he  got  a  divorce  on  the  ground  of  what 
they  term  '  mutual  incompatibility.'  Now,  Esther,  if 
you  will  turn  to  the  eighteenth  verse  of  the  sixteenth 
chapter  of  Luke,  you  will  find  that  Christ  said  again, 
'  Whosoever  putteth  away  his  wife  and  marrieth  another 
committeth  adultery.'  You  see,  Esther,  where  that 
places  both  Mr.  Mortimer  and  myself,'  and  the  poor 
lady,"  added  Esther,  "  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears  and 
cried  as  if  her  heart  would  break. 

"  Well,  William,  I  did  not  know  what  to  say,  but  I 
could  not  help  asking  your  mother  whether  she  did  not 
know  all  this  when  she  married  your  father.  She  said, 
'  No,  God  is  my  witness,  Mr.  Mortimer  deceived  me  on 
that  point,  he  told  me  that  his  first  wife  was  a  very  bad 


64  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

woman  and  left  the  impression  on  my  mind  that  she 
was  immoral.  But  since  our  marriage  he  has  acknowl 
edged  that  she  was  perfectly  pure,  and  that  it  was  only 
her  provoking  obstinate  disposition  which  made  him 
separate  from  her.  I  have  bitterly  reproached  him, 
and  confess  that  I  cannot  feel  to  him  as  I  once  did,' 
and  then  she  said  to  me,  with  tears  in  her  soft  blue 
eyes,  '  Esther,  I  have  gone  to  Christ  in  prayer  about 
this  matter,  and  I  want  to  know  whether  you  think  he 
will  forgive  me.' 

"  Well,  William,  I  tried  to  comfort  the  dear  lady.  I 
told  her  that  under  the  Old  Testament  dispensation 
there  was  a  special  '  offering  provided  for  '  sins  of 
ignorance ;  ' '  I  reminded  her  that  Jesus  had  used  these 
words  for  his  crucifiers,  '  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do ;  '  and  that  Peter  had  said  to 
the  Jews,  who  handed  Christ  to  the  Romans  to  be 
crucified,  'And  now,  brethren,  I  wot  that  through 
ignorance  ye  did  it,'  and  then  Peter  added,  '  Repent  ye, 
therefore,  and  be  converted,  that  your  sins  may  be 
blotted  out.'  When  I  repeated  these  passages  the  dear 
lady  looked  up  with  joy  and  said,  '  Esther,  you  have 
given  me  a  great  deal  of  comfort ;  now  pray  for  me  as  I 
shall  for  myself.'  Some  days  after  she  spake  to  me 
again  and  said,  '  Esther,  I  feel  that  God  has  forgiven 
me,  for  he  knows  that  '  through  ignorance  I  did  it,'  but 
what  am  I  to  do  about  that  first  wife?'  I  said,  'Mrs. 
Mortimer,  you  can  do  nothing  at  present/  so  we  let  the 
subject  drop ;  but  the  loving  Lord  did  not  give  your 
mother  any  opportunity  to  do  anything  concerning 
that  first  wife  of  Eugene  Mortimer,  for  God  soon  took 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  65 

your  mother  to  himself,  and  I  believe  she  is  with  Him 
in  heaven  to-day." 

Mortimer  was  so  much  moved  by  this  recital  that  he 
could  not  speak  for  some  time.  After  a  while  he  said, 
"  Esther,  I  thank  you  for  what  you  have  told  me  about 
my  mother,  it  has  only  made  me  the  more  revere  her 
memory ;  still,  it  does  not  throw  any  light  on  the  point 
I  am  investigating,  namely,  the  payment  of  that 
$50,000.  If  this  first  wife  was  as  high  spirited  a  lady 
as  you  represent  her,  I  can  hardly  imagine  why  she 
would  take  $50,000 ;  she  could  not  merely  have  been 
bought  off."  Then  he  paused  and  said,  "  Esther,  the 
thought  has  sometimes  occurred  to  me  that  she  might 
have  had  a  child,  and  that  this  sum  was  given  for  its 
maintenance  and  education." 

"  I  never  heard  of  Eugene  Mortimer's  first  wife 
having  a  child,  if  she  had  one  I  think  I  should  have 
known  it,"  said  Esther. 

"  Well,  then,  we  must  leave  it  as  a  mystery,  which, 
perhaps,  will  never  be  solved,"  said  Mortimer,  despair 
ingly. 

"  You  will  be  sure  to  find  it  out,  William,"  exclaimed 
Esther,  "  if  it  be  the  Lord's  will,  for  He  can  bring 
hidden  things  to  light.  If  it  is  any  matter  of  importance 
to  you,  why  don't  you  ask  the  Lord  to  direct  you  so 
you  can  find  it  out?" 

"  Well,  I  confess  it  is  more  a  matter  of  curiosity  than 
importance,  but  as  a  lawyer  my  curiosity  is  excited  to 
know  why  my  father  paid  her  so  much." 

"Your  curiosity  had  better  be  excited  about  how 
you  can  get  your  soul  saved,"  said  Esther,  with  her 
conscientious  fidelity  to  her  mission. 


66  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

Mortimer  turned  the  conversation  to  Esther's  own 
history.  He  quietly  drew  out  of  her  the  facts  that  a 
few  weeks  after  his  mother's  death  she  left  his  father's 
home  and  went  with  a  gentleman's  family  to  Europe. 
While  in  Germany  she  visited  the  famous  Faith-Cure 
Home  of  Franke,  and  witnessed  so  many  faith  cures, 
"  that  she  could  no  longer  doubt  that  Jesus  was  willing 
and  able  to  heal  both  body  and  soul,  just  as-  he  did 
while  on  earth."  After  her  return  to  America  she  had 
married,  but  her  husband  was  now  dead,  and  this 
bereavement,  she  said,  "  the  good  Lord  had  overruled  to 
her  sanctification,  so  that  henceforth  she  resolved  to 
devote  her  life  to  telling  others  of  the  Great  Physician." 
She  had  used  the  little  estate  left  by  her  husband 
in  improving  her  education  so  that  she  could  speak 
correct  English,  and,  having  "  learned  to  talk  in  public 
in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,"  was  now  devoting  her 
whole  life  "  to  her  mission." 

Mortimer  became  deeply  interested  in  Esther's 
accounts  of  instances  of  "  faith-healing"  she  had 
witnessed.  Noticing  this,  Esther  said,  "  Now,  William, 
come  and  attend  our  prayer-meeting  in  the  camp- 
meeting  tent  at  Piney  Grove,  and  see  for  yourself  how 
the  blessed  Lord  heals  souls  and  bodies." 

"  I  cannot  do  that  now,"  said  Mortimer,  "  for  I  must 
return  to  New  York  to-night,  but  I  promise  to  investi 
gate  this  matter  when  more  at  leisure.  I  have  been 
looking  into  the  mind-cure  lately  and  would  like  to 
study  the  faith-cure  also." 

Esther  at  once  brightened  up.  "  I  wish,"  she  said, 
"  on  your  return  to  New  York,  that  you  would  visit  my 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  67 

friend,  Dr.  Lawtell,  at  his  Faith  Home.     I  will  send 
you  a  letter  of  introduction  to  him." 

"  Do  so,"  said  Mortimer.  So  they  parted,  Esther  to 
pray  for  Mortimer,  Mortimer  to  think  over  all  that 
Esther  had  told  him. 


68  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  MATERIALIST  HAS   A    TUSSLE    WITH    THE    CHRIS 
TIAN   SCIENTIST. 

A  few  days  after  Dr.  Strong's  return  to  the  city  he 
called  on  Ruth  Page.  These  few  days  were  occupied 
in  giving  a  presentable  appearance  to  both  his  mind 
and  body.  He  "  crammed "  the  former  by  reading 
Spencer,  Mills  and  his  favorite  Harriet  Martineau ;  he 
adorned  the  latter  by  the  aid  of  barber  and  tailor.  The 
fact  was  the  doctor  being  a  consistent  materialist, 
in  believing  that  matter  held  supremacy  over  mind, 
proposed  to  subject  the  intellectual  and  volitional 
powers  of  Miss  Page  by  the  beauty  of  his  person.  For 
this  latter  device,  however,  we  give  the  materialistic 
philosophy  no  credit,  for  did  not  the  Greeks  thousands 
of  years  ago  picture  Venus  as  captivated  by  Adonis? 
Poor  Miss  Page  little  knew  of  the  Goliah  that  was 
coming  against  her,  whose  only  weapon  of  defence  was 
the  sling  of  the  mind-curer.  When,  therefore,  the 
doctor  sent  up  his  card,  accompanied  with  his  letter  of 
introduction  from  Mortimer,  the  young  girl  came 
tripping  down  the  stairs,  and  greeted  him  with  a  frank, 
simple  cordiality  which  rather  disconcerted  him. 


OR,   THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  69 

Ruth  looked  very  lovely.  Her  simple  white  dress, 
whose  only  ornament  was  a  spray  of  violets  pinned 
under  her  chin,  her  bright,  rosy  face,  and  gentle, 
childlike  manner  all  seemed  to  betoken  purity  and 
sweetness.  Indeed,  this  picture  of  loveliness  impressed 
the  doctor  more  than  his  suit  of  clothes,  or  scented 
hair,  or  dignified  bearing  impressed  Ruth.  She  entered 
the  room  accompanied  by  her  mother,  whose  sad 
expression  formed  quite  a  contrast  to  the  vivacious 
countenance  of  the  daughter.  Extending  her  hand  in 
a  cordial  greeting,  Ruth  said,  "  I  am  glad  to  meet  you, 
Dr.  Strong,  for  I  learn  from  Mr.  Mortimer's  note  that 
you  are  an  earnest  student  of  medical  science.  The 
Christian  scientist  appreciates  the  influence  of  the 
medical  profession,  and,  in  turn,  desires  it  to  appre 
ciate  Christian  science,  but  I  only  regret  that  you  have 
not  gone  to  some  of  our  learned  professors  who  could 
instruct  you  better  than  I." 

"  I  am  quite  content  with  my  teacher,"  said  Dr. 
Strong,  with  a  look  of  admiration  at  the  fair  doctoress. 

Ruth  seemed  a  little  annoyed,  and  said,  "  I  will  have 
to  ask  you  to  come  at  once  to  the  points  of  your 
inquiry,  as  I  have  some  patients  to  attend  this 
morning." 

"  I  hardly  know  where  to  commence  my  inquiries," 
answered  the  doctor.  "  Will  you  kindly  state  the  main 
points  of  your  science?" 

"They  are  very  few,"  said  Ruth.  "We  simply  try 
to  lead  the  patient  to  right  views  of  God  and  of 
himself." 

"Well,  what  are  your  views  of  God?" 


70  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

"  We  affirm  that  God  is  the  power  who  *  moves  what 
ever  acts  and  produces  force  wherever  it  is  felt.'  As 
no  wheel  or  belt  in  the  machinery  of  a  great  factory  is 
able  to  start  itself,  but  each  and  all  are  kept  in  motion 
by  power  communicated  from  the  engine  that  drives 
the  mill,  so  every  movement  in  nature  and  every 
volition  of  man  or  animal  is  God  acting  through  the 
thing  that  moves."  * 

"  Well,"  said  Dr.  Strong,  "  I  would  not  quite  agree 
with  your  definition  of  God,  but  I  should  think  most 
believers  in  the  Bible  would,  unless  you  mean  it  in  a 
pantheistic  sense." 

Ruth  answered,  "  There  are  different  shades  of 
belief  among  Christian  scientists,  but  we  all  believe  in  a 
God,  as  you  do,  Dr.  Strong." 

The  doctor  tried  to  repress  the  annoyance  he  felt  at 
being  taken  for  a  believer,  but  there  is  something  in 
woman's  nature  which  detects  by  a  subtile  instinct 
whether  other  natures  respond  or  not  to  her  own. 
Perhaps  the  cultivation  of  the  mind  under  Christian 
science  is  not  unfavorable  to  mind-reading.  The 
barometer,  which  tells  us  what  the  weather  is  to  be,  is 
generally  accompanied  with  a  thermometer,  which 
states  its  temperature.  The  weather  bureau  uses  both. 
May  there  not  be  a  power  in  the  mind-cure  to  gauge 
the  moral  temperature?  Anyway,  Ruth  was  more 
reserved  after  this.  The  doctor,  in  turn,  felt  that  he 
must  appear  better  than  he  really  was,  and  so,  assuming 
an  air  of  interest,  said,  "  I  confess  I  am  attracted  by 
your  science,  and  can  see  how  it  might  be  a  benefit  to 
a  certain  class  of  minds." 


*  Marston,  page  22. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  ^1 

"One  of  its  principles,"  answered  Ruth,  "which  I 
infer  from  your  last  remark  you  do  not  yet  appreciate, 
is  its  applicability  to  all  classes  of  minds,  if  they  will 
only  receive  it.  Mental  healing  is  based  entirely  on 
our  relation  to  God.  The  more  we  approximate  to  the 
image  of  God,  the  more  we  are  emptied  of  self  and 
filled  with  God,  the  more  we  approach  in  moral 
likeness  to  God  and  the  more  God's  truth  fills  our 
minds,  is  error  expelled,  for  error  is  but  another  name 
for  disease." 

"You  do  not  mean  to  say  that  all  disease  is  an 
error?"  asked  the  doctor. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Ruth.  "  Some  one  has  used  this 
illustration  of  our  theory  of  disease,  —  the  mental 
processes  are  compared  to  a  magic  lantern.  The 
lantern  itself  is  the  mind,  the  light  in  the  lantern  is 
truth,  the  screen  is  the  body,  and  the  slide  which 
contains  the  picture  is  thought.  Whatever  picture  you 
put  on  the  slide  of  thought  is  thrown  by  the  light  on 
the  screen  of  the  body.  Change  the  thought  and  the 
picture  on  the  screen  is  changed.  If  the  picture  on 
the  slide  is  that  of  disease,  it  will  be  thrown  on  the 
screen  of  the  body.  Change  the  slide  to  a  picture 
of  health  and  the  screen  of  the  body  will  receive  it  as 
well." 

"A  very  ingenious  comparison,"  said  the  doctor, 
"  but  it  seems  to  me  to  ignore  the  existence  of  matter. 
You  cannot  separate  thought  from  the  substance  of  the 
brain.  For  example,  I  am  thinking  of  you  now  because 
your  image  is  thrown  on  the  retina  of  my  eye,  just  as  it 
would  be  on  a  sensitive  photographic  plate.  This,  in 


72  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

turn,  excites  the  action  of  the  optic  nerve,  through 
which  an  active  condition  is  excited  in  the  optic 
ganglion.  So  what  sight  amounts  to  is  simply  setting 
in  operation  a  physiological  mechanism." 

"Is  that  all?"  said  Ruth.  "Why,  then,  don't  dead 
men  see?  " 

"  Because  the  mechanism  is  not  in  working  order," 
answered  the  doctor. 

"Yes,  but  why  not  in  working  order?  Is  it  not 
simply  because  the  spirit  has  fled?  You  see,  then, 
doctor,  that  it  is  the  psychical  power  behind  the  physical 
which  determines  whether  the  man  sees  or  not." 

"Then,"  said  Dr.  Strong,  avoiding  the  issue,  "you 
regard  man  as  simply  psychical  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  and  here  we  believe  is  the  great  mission  of 
our  Christian  science, — to  bring  the  age  out  of  its 
materialistic  tendency.  The  age  believes  in  the  reality 
of  lands  and  merchandise,  and  trusts  its  five  senses  to 
the  last.  We  dispute  the  evidence  of  the  senses.  We 
plant  ourselves  on  the  centre  of  being  and  account  for 
the  effect  by  the  cause.  As  long  as  the  age  regards 
the  human  body  as  matter,  it  will  depend  on  material 
agents  like  medicine  to  heal  its  diseases.  But  when 
it  recognizes  that  man  is  but  mind  and  that  mind  the 
reflection  of  God  himself,  it  will  rely  on  mind  to  cure 
mind."  * 

"Why,  Miss  Page,  you  certainly  do  not  mean  to 
assert  that  you  do  not  believe  in  the  existence  of 
matter?" 

Ruth  hesitated,  but  said,  "  There  are  different  schools 
in  our  Christian  science  just  as  there  are  in  your  medical 

*  Marston,  page  19. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA. 


73 


science,  yet  it  seems  to  me  that  the  most  consistent 
view  from  our  standpoint  is  the  one  taught  by  my  great 
professor  in  Boston,  —  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
matter,  all  is  mind." 

"  Plague  the  girl,"  thought  Dr.  Strong,  "  I'd  like  to 
fling  this  stool  at  her  head  and  see  whether  she  believes 
in  the  existence  of  matter,  only  she  is  too  beautiful  a 
temple  to  treat  with  such  violence.  I'll  try  another 
method."  "  Miss  Page,  I  suppose  you  have  studied 
anatomy  and  physiology." 

"  No,"  said  the  doctoress,  "  we  confine  our  study  to 
the  mental  and  moral  make-up  of  mankind." 

"  Well,  let  me  then  state  to  you  a  fact  which  can  be 
easily  verified.  There  is  a  nerve  which  runs  from  the 
brain  to  the  lungs,  called  the  Pneumogastric  nerve ;  if 
this  nerve  be  cut  the  man  at  once  dies.  Now,  nerve  is 
certainly  matter ;  how,  then,  do  you  reconcile  this  with 
your  theory  that  man  is  not  dependent  on  his  material 
composition  for  his  life?" 

"Because,  as  I  stated,"  answered  Ruth,  "we  believe 
what  you  call  matter  to  be  simply  a  reflection  of  God, 
and  as  God  is  a  spirit,  we  believe  it  to  be  but  a 
reflection  of  spirit." 

"What  we,  then,  call  mind,  you  would  call  spirit?" 
said  the  doctor. 

"  Yes." 

"  Now,"  thought  Dr.  Strong,  "  I've  got  this  fair  girl 
into  a  corner,"  so  he  asked,  "  Please,  Miss  Page,  give 
me  some  illustration  of  this." 

"Well,  doctor,  there  is  your  arm,  that  you  believe  to 
be  matter.  But  cut  off  that  arm  and  you  will  still  feel 


74  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

the  pain  in  the  place  it  occupied.  You  know,  doctor, 
many  amputations  have  shown  this  to  be  the  case. 
Many  think  this  strange,  it  has  puzzled  medical  scientists 
for  ages  to  explain  it.  But  Christian  science  explains 
it.  That  arm  was  simply  a  reflection  of  the  mind,  and 
as  you  cannot  destroy  the  mind  by  any  amputation,  it 
remains  in  its  place  even  after  the  surgeon's  knife  has 
done  its  work." 

"  Oh,  yes,"  said  the  doctor,  pretending  to  be  con 
vinced,  but  still  weaving  his  meshes  to  entangle  his  fair 
opponent,  "  I  understand,  the  mind  and  the  arm  are 
identical.  Well,  then,  Miss  Page,  has  not  your  science 
found  out  that  there's  a  communication  between  one 
mind  and  another?" 

"  Certainly,"  said  Ruth. 

"  I  agree  with  you  fully,"  said  the  doctor,  still  weaving 
his  meshes,  "  and  now,  Miss  Page,  let  us  try  to  demon 
strate  this ;  "  slipping  something  into  his  hand  he 
stretched  out  his  arm,  with  his  tightly  clenched  fist, 
before  Ruth,  and  said,  with  a  mock  air  of  belief,  "  Miss 
Page,  will  you  let  your  mind  (that  is,  your  hand)  read 
what  is  in  my  mind  (that  is,  in  my  hand)." 

Ruth  hesitated  and  became  very  much  confused. 
She  looked  piteously  at  her  mother,  who  rose  and  said, 
"Dr.  Strong,  I  did  not  think  you  came  here  to  insult 
my  daughter  by  trying  to  catch  her  in  such  a  trap,  I 
must  beg  you  not  to  prolong  your  visit." 

But  Ruth  interposed,  — "  No,  mother,  I  should  feel 
ashamed  to  turn  a  gentleman  out  of  our  house,  because 
we  cannot  answer  his  arguments."  Then  turning  to 
the  doctor  she  said,  "  I  will  frankly  confess  that  I  am 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  75 

not  able  to  answer  that  argument,  but  I  am  so  convinced 
of  the  truth  of  my  system  that  I  know  my  lack  of 
answering  is  owing  to  my  want  of  knowledge  of  it,  —  not 
to  the  falsity  of  Christian  science." 

Dr.  Strong  himself  perceived  he  had  gone  too  far, 
and  said,  courteously,  "  Miss  Page,  to  tell  you  the  truth 
I  do  believe  in  much  of  your  system,  and  beg  your 
pardon  for  my  rudeness  in  our  first  interview  in  thus 
trying  to  entrap  you  in  an  argument." 

"  Certainly  I  pardon  you,"  said  Ruth,  very  meekly, 
"  and  to  show  you  how  sincere  I  am,  I  will  invite  you 
to  attend  the  next  lecture  of  my  class." 

"  And  to  show  how  sincerely  penitent  I  am,"  said 
the  doctor,  "  I  will  certainly  be  there." 

Dr.  Strong  rose  to  go,  but  Ruth  beckoned  him  to  be 
seated  again.  "  Doctor,"  she  said,  "  I  have  tried  to 
answer  your  questions,  may  I  ask  you  one?  " 

"  Certainly. " 

"  What  is  your  belief  concerning  God  and  matter?  " 

"  Well,"  he  answered,  "  concerning  God,  I  will  state 
frankly  that  I  am  in  doubt  about  the  proper  definition. 
I  recognize,  however,  that  there  is  what  might  be  called 
a  divine  force  permeating  the  universe." 

"  What  are  your  views  about  man's  relations  to  this 
force?" 

"Well,  I  can  perhaps  best  answer  a  lady's  question 
by  a  lady's  definition.  Miss  Harriet  Martineau  ex 
presses  exactly  my  belief  when  she  says,  '  All  causes 
are  material  causes.  In  material  conditions  I  find  the 
origin  of  all  religions,  all  philosophies,  all  opinions,  all 
spiritual  conditions  and  influences,  in  the  same  manner 


76  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

that  I  find  the  origin  of  all  diseases,  of  all  insanities  in 
material  conditions  and  causes."  * 

"  Will  you  please  repeat  that  again,"  said  Ruth. 

Dr.  Strong  repeated  it.  "  I  thought  it  was  familiar  to 
me,"  said  Ruth,  "  I  think  I  can  turn  to  the  very  page 
in  the  book  you  refer  to,"  and  going  to  the  library  she 
took  it  down.  "  Yes,  here  it  is,  doctor,  and  here  is  the 
logical  sequence  of  this  theory,  as  stated  by  your  own 
oracle."  Ruth  read  from  Miss  Martineau's  letters  as 
follows:  "I  am  what  I  am;  a  creature  of  necessity; 
I  claim  neither  merit  nor  demerit ;  I  feel  that  I  am  as 
completely  the  result  of  my  nature  and  impelled  to  do 
what  I  do,  as  the  needle  to  point  to  the  north,  or  the 
puppet  to  move  according  as  the  string  is  pulled." 
Then  opening  a  drawer,  she  added,  "  I  believe  I  have 
here  the  very  toy  from  which  Miss  Martineau  draws  her 
simile,"  and  taking  out  a  jumping-jack,  she  held  it  up 
before  the  doctor,  with  a  roguish  smile  upon  her  face, 
and  drawing  the  string  which  made  the  arms  and  legs 
jerk,  she  said,  with  a  bow  of  mock  reverence,  "  Behold 
Dr.  Strong  according  to  his  own  philosophy." 

It  was  now  Dr.  Strong's  turn  to  redden  and  become 
confused.  He  was  overwhelmed  with  astonishment. 
He  thought  he  had  been  talking  to  some  simple-minded 
girl,  who  had  taken  up  with  an  enthusiastic  ideal,  but 
he  had  found  one  who  could  assert  her  rights  even  in 
arguing  on  his  own  premises.  He  could  not  even 
retain  his  anger,  for  a  merry  laugh  broke  from  Ruth  as 
she  said,  "A  Roland  for  an  Oliver,  doctor.  You 
cannot  get  angry  with  me,  for  according  to  the  logic  of 


*  Letters  on  the  laws  of  man's  nature  and  development.    Henry  G.  Atkinson 
and  Harriet  Martineau. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  77 

your  own  oracle  —  Miss  Martineau  —  'notions  of  duty 
and  responsibility  have  no  real  foundation/  therefore, 
I  am  not  responsible  for  my  impolite  behavior." 

Angry !  The  doctor  was  captivated.  He  went 
away  thinking  of  nothing  but  Ruth  Page. 

After  Dr.  Strong  left,  Mrs.  Page  turned  to  her 
daughter,  and  with  some  severity  in  her  tone,  said, 
"  Ruth,  I  think  it  is  time  for  me  to  interpose  my 
authority  and  say  that  this  must  be  stopped." 

"What  do  you  mean,  mother?  "  exclaimed  Ruth. 

"Your  receiving  gentlemen  here  and  having  these 
talks  with  them." 

"  Why,  mother,  I  have  had  no  gentleman  call  on  me 
but  this  one,  Mr.  Mortimer  simply  came  to  ask  me  to 
attend  his  betrothed,  —  Miss  Dupont;  he  has  never 
called  since.  This  friend  of  his  is  evidently  a  gentleman, 
a  physician,  too,  and  if  I  can  influence  a  physician  to 
see  the  folly  of  his  materialism,  am  I  not  in  the  very 
line  of  my  work?  " 

"  But  he  is  no  gentleman,"  said  Mrs.  Page,  "  see  how 
he  tried  to  catch  you  in  that  trap  of  an  argument." 

"Well,  did  not  I  catch  him,  too?"  said  Ruth 
triumphantly,  "  and  certainly,  mother,  we  cannot  refuse 
to  admit  a  gentleman  to  our  home,  because  we  have 
been  worsted  in  an  argument  with  him." 

"  I  have  other  reasons,  Ruth,"  said  her  mother,  with 
a  determined  air. 

"  Well,  mother,  I  think  I  have  a  right  to  know  them 
before  shutting  our  door  against  this  gentleman." 

"  I  cannot  state  them  now,"  said  Mrs.  Page,  "  I  insist 
on  your  obeying  me." 


78  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

A  sudden  transformation  took  place  in  Ruth  which 
startled  her  mother ;  the  quiet,  placid  face  was  full  of 
stormy  passion,  the  yielding,  submissive  air  of  the 
young  beauty  was  changed  to  one  of  haughty  defiance. 
"  Mother,"  Ruth  said,  "  I  have  always  obeyed  you,  but 
I  am  not  called  to  obey  you  when  you  virtually  require 
me  to  insult  a  gentleman." 

Mrs.  Page  was  alarmed,  overwhelmed,  at  Ruth's 
appearance  and  attitude.  She  could  not  for  some  time 
control  herself  sufficiently  to  speak.  Finally  she  said, 
"  Ruth,  I  hoped  you  had  confidence  enough  in  your 
mother  to  obey  her  without  forcing  her  to  give  reasons 
for  her  commands ;  but  never  mind,  do  as  you  please," 
and  Mrs.  Page  turned  to  leave  the  room. 

Ruth  sprang  after  her.  "  No,  mother,  forgive  me," 
she  said,  throwing  her  arms  around  Mrs.  Page's  neck, 
"  I  was  too  wicked.  But,  mother,  I  do  long  for  some 
companions.  We  have  been  so  isolated  since  we  came 
to  New  York,  I  know  no  one  but  my  few  lady  patients ; 
how  often  I  have  longed  for  a  brother,  or  some 
gentleman  whom  I  could  have  as  a  friend  and  not  as  a 
lover.  But  I  know  you  love  me  too  much  to  ask 
anything  of  me  unless  you  have  a  good  reason." 

"  Well,  Ruth,"  said  her  mother,  returning  her  warm 
embrace,  "  I  do  realize  how  you  feel ;  we  are  too 
isolated,  you  are  young  and  ought  to  see  some  society; 
suppose  we  go  back  to  Boston." 

"  No,  mother,  not  yet,  I  want  to  try  another 
winter  in  this  city.  I  am  making  a  start  and  getting  a 
few  influential  friends ;  I  have  only  one  more  lecture  to 
give  to  my  class,  and  then  we  will  go  to  some  quiet 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  ^9 

country  place,  where  I  can  spend  the  summer  in  further 
study  on  Christian  science,  for  I  don't  want  to  be  caught 
again  in  argument,  as  I  was  by  Dr.  Strong  to-day. 
And  now  it's  all  settled,  mother,  and  you  have  forgiven 
me,  haven't  you  ?  "  said  Ruth. 

"  Forgive  you,  my  child,"  answered  her  mother,  and 
giving  Ruth  a  passionate  embrace,  she  added,  "  I  have 
nothing  to  forgive  in  you,  but,  oh,  how  much  you  have 
to  forgive  in  me  !  " 


So  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER   IX.* 
RUTH'S  LECTURE. 

Dr.  Strong,  bent  on  further  investigation  of  the 
mind-cure  and  its  beautiful  priestess,  visited  Miss  Page's 
lecture  class  the  next  week.  He  was  a  little  embarrassed 
on  entering  the  room  to  find  himself  the  only  gentleman 
present.  Among  the  ladies  he  recognized  many  who 
moved  in  the  best  circles  of  society.  To  his  surprise 
he  saw  two  young  ladies  with  whom  he  was  well 
acquainted,  but  whom  he  would  rather  expect  to  meet 
at  a  ball  than  at  such  a  lecture,  —  they  were  the  Misses 
Deveraux.  "  What  in  the  world  brought  you  here, 
doctor?  "  whispered  Rose,  the  younger  and  prettier  one 
of  the  two,  as  the  doctor  glided  into  a  seat  by  her  side. 

"  Beauty  and  curiosity,"  replied  the  doctor.  Rose 
smiled  graciously,  for  the  first  part  she  applied  to 
herself,  the  second  to  Miss  Page. 

Just  then  the  door  of  a  side  room  opened  and  Ruth 
entered.  She  looked  the  picture  of  health  and  inno- 


*  It  will  be  understood  by  the  reader  of  this  chapter  that  the  author  intends  to 
represent  but  not  endorse  the  views  of  Christian  scientists,  as  herein  expressed  by 
Ruth.  It  should  also  be  stated  that  some  classes  of  Christian  scientists  avoid 
many  of  the  manifest  errors  of  Ruth  as  regards  her  pantheistic  views  of  Deity, 
while  agreeing-  with  her  in  the  main  point  of  the  domination  of  the  spiritual  and 
mental  over  the  physical  nature  of  man. 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  8 1 

cence,  her  countenance,  however,  was  not  as  vivacious 
as  usual.  Dr.  Strong  whispered  to  Rose,  "Your 
preceptress  looks  very  enchanting.  I  will  have  to  look 
out  for  my  heart  rather  than  for  my  mind  this  morning." 

"  Hush  !  "  said  Rose,  looking  decidedly  annoyed,  "  if 
you  talk  in  meeting  you  will  be  put  out." 

Seating  herself  behind  the  table  on  the  slightly 
raised  platform,  Ruth  bowed  to  her  audience,  and  said, 
by  way  of  preface,  "  As  this  is  the  last  lecture  in  my 
course,  I  will  briefly  review  the  main  points  we  have 
gone  over  in  the  previous  lectures."  Dr.  Strong  secretly 
flattered  himself  that  this  was  done  partly  for  his  benefit, 
and  he  gave  her  strict  attention. 

Ruth  proceeded,  —  "Our  science  starts  with  the 
proper  idea  of  God.  He  is  the  Supreme  Being,  per 
vading  everything.  As  Paul  said  on  Mars'  Hill,  '  In 
Him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being.'  He  is  the 
divine  principle  pervading  what  men  call  nature, — the 
embodiment  and  fountain  of  life,  truth,  love.  He  has 
all  power,  nothing  can  resist  him ;  therefore,  what  men 
call  disease  is  powerless  before  Him,  just  as  it  was 
before  his  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  who  rebuked  diseases  and 
they  fled  before  Him,  as  the  devils  also  fled  from  His 
presence.  All  we  have  to  do  is  to  give  ourselves  up  to 
be  filled  with  God,  and  disease  will  flee  from  us.  I  say 
disease,  in  order  to  accommodate  the  truth  to  the 
comprehension  of  those  not  yet  perfectly  acquainted 
with  Christian  science.  But  strictly  speaking  there  is 
no  such  thing  as  disease;  what  men  imagine  to  be 
disease  is  the  error  of  their  own  minds,  an  illusion,  with 
which  God's  creatures  cheat  themselves,  because  they 


82  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

refuse  to  come  into  harmony  with  the  mind  of  God. 
Therefore,  the  way  to  deal  with  this  illusion  is  to  have 
the  mind  filled  with  the  truth,  this  occupying  the  mind 
expels  error,  — '  resist  evil '  (or  disease)  in  this  manner 
and  it  will  '  flee  from  you.' 

"  The  reason  why  men  have  not  perceived  these 
truths  before  is  that  ever  since  the  race  was  created  it 
has  gone  further  and  further  into  materialism.  It  has 
disobeyed  the  first  precept  of  religion,  namely,  *  Thou 
shalt  have  no  other  God  before  me.'  It  has  worshipped 
the  creature  rather  than  the  Creator.  Therefore  has  it 
forgotten  that  man  was  made  in  the  image  and  likeness 
of  God,  and  that  God  being  a  spirit,  man  must  be  the 
expression  of  spirit,  and  not,  therefore,  matter,  but 
simply  the  reflection  of  the  mind  of  God.  When  Jesus 
came  to  earth,  he  came  to  remove  these  false  views 
from  men's  minds,  to  lead  them  out  of  the  darkness  of 
materialism  to  the  light  of  spirituality.  He  is  the  way, 
the  truth,  and  the  life ;  and  he  said,  '  He  that  is  of  the 
truth  heareth  my  voice.'  If  we,  then,  have  our  minds 
filled  with  truth,  error,  that  is,  disease,  can  find  no 
entrance.  These  are  the  basic  truths  of  our  science  of 
healing,  just  as  men  realize  them  will  they  bruise  Satan, 
that  is,  all  forms  of  error,  under  their  feet. 

"  From  these  truths  about  God  flow  the  right  view  of 
man.  Since  God  is  not  matter,  but  mind,  and  as  man 
is  made  in  the  image  of  God,  man  is  not  matter,  but 
mind.  What  men  term  the  body  is  really  a  reflection 
of  the  human  mind.  Take,  for  example,  the  human 
face,  it  reflects  but  the  mind  within ;  the  mind  experi 
ences  pleasure,  and  the  muscles  of  the  face  express 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  83 

that  pleasure  in  a  smile ;  if  grief,  the  lachrymal  ducts 
pour  out  their  tears ;  if  fear,  the  heart  throbs  and  the 
limbs  tremble.  Does  not  this  prove  that  every  part  of 
the  body  is  but  the  expression  of  some  mental  faculty. 

"This  enables  us  to  proceed  another  step,  and 
examine  further  the  nature  of  what  mankind  terms 
disease.  They  refer  it  to  matter  and  say  that  the 
solids  or  fluids  or  nerves  of  the  body  are  out  of  order. 
Strange  that  they  cannot  see  that  disease  is  a  suffering 
of  the  mortal  mind.  It  is  of  no  avail  to  apply  chemical 
preparations  to  a  cause  that  chemistry  cannot  reach. 
It  is  of  no  use  to  put  poultices  on  the  body,  when,  as 
Shakespeare  well  expresses  it,  there  needs  'to  be 
plucked  out  of  the  heart  a  rooted  sorrow.'  Drugs  heal, 
or  rather  are  thought  to  heal,  only  by  exchanging  one 
disease  for  another.  This  is  the  confessed  use  of 
mercury  and  opium.  They  cure  by  poisoning  the 
system  with  a  worse  poison  than  the  one  they  pretend 
to  relieve.  We  Christian  Scientists  recognizing  this 
apply  our  treatment  to  the  mind.  We  remove  the 
cause  and  the  disease  disappears. 

"  Your  treatment,"  said  Ruth,  looking  at  her  audience, 
"  for  I  suppose  I  am  addressing  mostly  those  striving 
to  understand  our  science  so  that  they  may  devote  their 
lives  to  relieving  mankind,  your  treatment  must  be  first 
directed  to  bringing  your  own  mind  into  correspondence 
with  God's.  Pause  for  a  moment  before  treating  your 
patient  and  reflect  as  follows  :  There  is  no  such  thing 
in  the  economy  of  God  as  disease ;  God  is  love  and 
does  not  wish  his  children  to  suffer;  God  is  truth, 
disease  is  but  error,  God  does  not  wish  error  to  exist. 


84  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

Now,  in  the  strength  of  God  proceed  to  cast  out  this 
error.  Has  He  not  given,  through  His  Son,  to  His 
disciples  this  commission,  *  Heal  the  sick.'  With  your 
mind  in  correspondence  with  God's  mind,  address  the 
patient  mentally,  since  the  power  of  truth  reflected 
through  your  mind  is  always  sufficient.  But  in  some 
cases  you  may  have  to  prepare  the  mind  by  rousing  it 
with  a  shock  from  its  lethargy  of  sin.  Or  you  may 
have  to  calm  it  by  drawing  off  its  thoughts  from  its 
ailments.  Be  careful,  whatever  you  do,  to  destroy  the 
moral  evil  in  the  patient,  while  you  are  curing  the 
physical  one,  for,  after  all,  disease  is  moral  evil;  if 
people  will  not  give  up  their  sins  they  cannot  experience 
the  power  of  God.  Thus  will  you  keep  in  harmony 
with  the  divine  mind,  and  the  healing  touch  of  His 
hand  will  suffice  to  cure  all  manner  of  disease." 

"  A  theory  as  beautiful  as  its  prophetess,  but,  alas,  as 
mortal !  "  whispered  Dr.  Strong  to  Rose. 

"  Hush !  "  said  Rose,  impatiently,  "  she  is  about  to 
open  the  question  drawer.  Let  us  listen." 

Ruth  took  from  the  drawer  slips  of  paper  which  she 
read  and  answered  as  follows : 

Question.  "  You  speak  of  disease  as  sinful  error ;  is 
there  no  sin?" 

Answer.  "  The  only  reality  of  sin  is  the  awful  fact 
that  unrealities  seem  real." 

Question.  "  You  say  man  is  all  mind  ;  is  there  not  a 
nervous  system,  through  which  the  brain  acts  on  the 
body?" 

Answer.  "The  nerves  are  nothing  without  the 
brain,  and  the  brain  is  nothing  without  the  mind; 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  85 

destroy  both  nerves  and  brain  and  the  mind  still  exists." 

Question.  "  Do  you  mean  by  the  mind,  the  soul  or 
spirit?" 

Answer.  "  No ;  the  term  soul  is  used  in  our  system 
in  a  different  sense  from  what  it  is  by  those  who  call 
themselves  theologians.  We  mean  by  it  simply  the 
reflection  of  God  in  man.  There  is  no  distinct  part  of 
man  called  his  soul;  the  term  soul  or  spirit  is 
applicable  to  but  one,  —  that  is,  God.  God  is  not  in 
man,  for  the  greater  cannot  be  in  the  less,  but  man  is  a 
reflection  of  God." 

Question.  "  What  stress  do  you  put  on  faith  in  your 
system  ?  " 

Answer.  "  We  regard  it  as  important,  but  we  view 
faith  as  a  quality  of  the  mind;  remember  in  our 
system  all  is  mind.  Faith  and  truth  are  correlatives, 
the  highest  faith  is  the  acceptance  of  the  truth." 

Question.  "  Do  you  believe,  then,  in  exercising 
faith  in  Christ  as  a  personal  Savior?  " 

Answer.  "Yes,  if  it  be  accompanied  with  works. 
One  kind  of  faith  trusts  all  to  another ;  it  says,  '  Lord,  I 
would  believe,  help  Thou  my  unbelief;  '  this  is  a  blind 
faith,  for  it  lacks  the  chief  element  of  true  faith,  which 
is  self-reliance,  which  is  expressed  in  the  command, 
'Believe  and  thou  shalt  be  saved.' " 

Question.  "  Does  the  faith  you  exercise  in  healing 
differ  from  the  idea  of  the  faith-curers  ?  " 

Answer.  "Yes,  materially.  They  depend  on  the 
faith  of  the  person  healed,  and  therefore  appeal  to  the 
sick  to  exercise  faith.  We  depend  on  the  faith  of  the 
person  healing,  as  Christ  exemplified  in  the  healing  of 


86  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

the  paralytic,  — '  Seeing  their  faith  (that  is,  of  the 
persons  who  brought  the  paralytic),  Jesus  said,  'Take 
up  thy  bed  and  walk.'  We  differ  also  in  our  view  of 
God.  The  faith-healers  rely  much  on  prayer,  they 
'  plead  '  with  God,  — '  wrestle  like  Jacob  did.'  We 
believe  that  God  needs  no  persuasion  to  induce  him  to 
heal  the  sick ;  that  was  the  very  mission  on  which  He 
sent  His  Son  to  earth,  — '  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  hath 
anointed  me  to  heal  the  sick.'  This  certainly  applies 
to  man's  body,  as  well  as  to  his  soul.  Therefore,  we 
simply  strive  to  bring  man  into  correspondence  with 
God,  if  man  will  only  relinquish  his  materialistic  views, 
cease  regarding  his  body  as  matter,  and  recognize  that 
it  is  but  the  reflection  of  God's  mind,  and  then  strive  to 
bring  his  mind  into  harmony  with  the  mind  of  God, 
disease  would  flee  away  like  the  shadows  of  the  night 
before  the  rising  sun." 

Dr.  Strong  slipped  into  Rose's  hand  two  questions 
he  had  written,  and  asked  her  to  pass  them  up  to  Miss 
Page.  Ruth  looked  at  them  for  a  moment  and  without 
any  hesitancy  answered  as  follows : 

Question.  "  What  relation,  if  any,  does  your  system 
of  healing  hold  to  medical  science?  " 

Answer.  "  Our  system  is  but  the  culmination  of  all 
true  medical  science.  Man,  in  studying  how  to  cure, 
started  on  the  low  plane  of  materialism.  He  used 
drugs,  as  he  thought,  to  cure  the  ills  of  a  material 
body.  That  was  allopathy.  When  Hahnemann  arose 
a  step  forward  was  taken,  for  homoeopathy  takes  the 
mental  symptoms  into  consideration.  In  the  high 
attenuation  of  their  medicines  there  is  a  greater  oppor- 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  87 

tunity  for  nature  to  work  her  own  cure.  Christian 
science,  recognizing  the  fact  that  nature  is  but  another 
name  for  mind,  rises  a  step  higher  and  discards  even 
the  pellet  of  the  homceopathists,  and  brings  mind  to 
cure  mind.  Since  God  is  the  source  of  all  mind,  it 
brings  God  to  cure  the  diseased  mind  of  man,  and  thus 
returns  to  the  simple  faith  of  those  who  lived  in  Christ's 
time,  who  brought  their  sick  and  laid  them  down  at 
Jesus'  feet." 

Question.  "  Are  there  not  cases  where  the  sick  get 
well  by  the  use  of  drugs?  For  example,  the  many 
that  are  treated  in  hospitals." 

Answer.  "  Yes.  I  grant  there  are  such  cases,  but 
it  is  simply  the  belief  or  faith  in  the  remedy,  which 
heals  them,  or  the  faith  in  the  person  administering  it. 
For  years  physicians  have  held  the  belief  that  certain 
remedies  have  certain  curative  effects.  Indeed,  the 
public  mind  gets  so  accustomed  to  these  beliefs  that  it 
becomes  a  part  of  its  faith  that  opium  causes  sleep  and 
coffee  keeps  a  person  awake.  How  foolish  are  these 
beliefs,  how  entirely  dependent  on  the  state  of  the 
mind  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  homceopathists  use 
coffee  to  put  patients  to  sleep,  while  allopathists  use  it 
to  rouse  them  from  stupor.  Here  you  find  the  mind  of 
the  two  schools,  acting  in  opposite  directions,  produce 
with  the  same  so-called  medicine  two  opposite  effects. 
You  see,  then,  that  the  cure  was  not  in  the  medicine, 
but  in  the  state  of  mind." 

Miss  Page  then  returned  to  the  questions  in  the 
drawer : 

Question.  "  Do  you  not  think  a  great  deal  of  disease 
is  owing  to  sin?  For  example,  drunkenness,  etc." 


50  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

Answer.  "  I  would  say  the  sin  is  owing  to  a  diseased 
mind,  for  what  sin  is  there  but  first  originates  in 
thought?  If  you  master  the  thought,  you  then  master 
the  sin.  Jesus  put  great  stress  on  the  actions  of  the 
human  mind.  He  said  that  before  the  overt  act  was 
performed,  the  sin  was  committed  in  the  mind.  (See 
His  Sermon  on  the  Mount.)  So  again  He  says,  'As  a 
man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he.'  I  may  illustrate 
this  thus:  The  sculptor  works  his  model  out  of  his 
mind.  If  in  his  mind  has  been  the  conception  of  an 
angel,  there  it  stands  in  the  marble ;  if  in  his  mind  the 
conception  of  a  devil,  there  it  stands  in  the  marble. 
We  look  at  the  piece  of  marble  and  say  it  is  a  statue. 
No,  it  is  only  the  reflection  of  the  mind  of  the  artist. 
So  are  we  working  out  in  our  mind  our  lives.  Men,  as 
they  see  our  actions,  read  the  mind  underneath.  We 
talk  of  mind-reading,  but  the  fact  is  our  minds  are  in 
our  lives,  '  known  and  read  of  all  men.'  " 

As  Ruth  concluded,  her  face  lit  up  with  the  enthu 
siasm  of  her  belief,  and,  as  for  a  moment  her  eye  rested 
on  Dr.  Strong,  he  was  conscious  of  a  sort  of  mental 
shock,  not  altogether  unpleasant  to  experience.  He 
whispered  to  Rose,  "  There  must  be  a  very  fine  mind 
under  that  beautiful  exterior,  but  I'd  like  to  know  how 
much  heart  there  is.  I  notice  she  makes  everything  to 
be  mind.  She  seems  to  totally  ignore  the  heart. 
I  wish  I  had  an  opportunity  to  have  a  flirtation  with 
that  girl  and  find  out  whether  she  has  any  heart." 

"  What  vain  mortals  you  men  are !  "  said  Rose, 
poutingly.  "  I  believe  you  think  that  a  woman  has 
only  to  look  at  you  to  fall  in  love  with  you." 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  89 

"  Certainly,"  said  Dr.  Strong.  "We  believe  in  the 
power  of  mind  over  mind.  I  have  only  to  think  I  can 
make  a  conquest  and  of  course  the  conquest  is  made." 

Dr.  Strong  wanted  very  much  to  linger  and  talk  with 
Ruth,  but,  as  her  table  was  surrounded  with  a  number 
of  her  scholars,  he  merely  made  her  a  polite  bow, 
which  was  acknowledged  by  a  sweet  smile.  The  doctor 
then  left  the  hall  and  walked  up  the  street  with  the 
Deveraux  girls.  He  had  hardly  got  out  of  the  door 
before  Ethel  Deveraux  began,  "  Oh,  Dr.  Strong,  how 
glad  I  am  we  met  you  here  !  Do  tell  me,  who  is  this 
Miss  Page?  " 

"  I  have  never  met  her  but  once  before,"  said  the 
doctor.  "  I  merely  called  as  a  scientist  to  investigate 
this  mind-cure."  (And  the  doctor  seemed  to  stretch 
himself  an  inch  taller  when  he  uttered  that  word, 
"  scientist." )  "  She  referred  me  to  her  lecture  for 
information,  and  therefore  I  came  hither  to-day." 

The  reader  will  notice  that  the  doctor  also  stretched 
the  truth  a  little,  but,  amid  the  many  phases  of  the 
mind,  there  is  none  more  curious  than  the  selection 
of  persons  to  whom  it  entrusts  its  secret  thoughts. 
There  is  a  sort  of  natural  affinity,  or  what  Darwin  calls 
"  natural  selection,"  about  this  matter.  Men  rarely 
make  women  the  repository  of  their  hearts'  secrets,  and 
never  a  gossipy  woman.  The  doctor,  therefore,  was 
mum,  but  he  knew  he  had  only  to  touch  the  spring  and 
set  Ethel's  tongue  going,  and  he  would  soon  find  out 
all  she  knew  about  Miss  Page,  and  probably  much 
more.  So  he  bowed  and  said,  "  You  must  know  about 
this  young  lady,  for  you  seem  to  have  faith  enough  in 
her  to  become  one  of  her  scholars." 


90  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

"  Faith  did  not  bring  me  here,"  said  Ethel,  sneer- 
ingly,  "  simply  ennui.  I  got  tired  of  balls  and  prayer- 
meetings  and  needed  a  change  of  thought,  so,  happening 
to  hear  of  this  Miss  Page,  I  thought  I  would  attend  a 
course  of  lectures  and  get  posted  on  this  new  craze, 
the  mind-cure.  But,"  said  she,  lowering  her  voice, 
"  I  suspect  there  is  something  wrong  about  that  girl." 

"What  do  you  know  about  Miss  Page?"  asked  the 
doctor  of  Rose. 

"  Well,"  said  Rose,  "  I  must  confess  I  know  very 
little  about  her.  I  first  heard  of  her  through  my  friend, 
Mrs.  Black,  whom  she  certainly  cured  of  a  cancer. 
Miss  Page  impresses  me  as  a  modest  girl  of  bright 
mind  and  a  perfect  enthusiast  in  her  profession." 

"  Well,  it  seems  to  me,"  said  the  doctor,  laughingly, 
"  we  are  all  the  '  three  blind  mice '  as  far  as  Miss  Ruth 
Page  is  concerned." 

"  I  am  not,  I  thank  you,"  said  Ethel,  with  a  toss  of 
her  head.  "I  can  see  something  with  my  eyes  shut. 
No  young  girl  of  that  age  would  appear  in  public 
unless  she  were  driven  to  it  by  poverty  or  by  desire  for 
notoriety.  I  tell  you,  Dr.  Strong,  nothing  disgusts  me 
so  much  as  to  see  my  own  sex  thrust  themselves  on 
the  public  gaze." 

"Just  what  I  thought,"  said  the  doctor,  "when  I 
attended  with  you  Miss  Highflier's  ball  and  saw  the 
dressing  of  some  of  the  ladies." 

Ethel  gave  a  furtive  glance  at  the  doctor  to  see  how 
he  meant  this  last  remark,  but  his  countenance  was 
very  non-committal.  He  bowed,  and,  leaving  the 
ladies,  returned  to  his  office  to  meditate  on  Christian 
science  —  and  Miss  Ruth  Page. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA. 


CHAPTER  X. 

HYSTERIA    NEUTRALIZES    THE     MIND-CURE    AND    PUTS 
CUPID   TO    FLIGHT. 

It  was  with  rather  mixed  feelings  that  Mortimer,  on 
his  return  to  New  York,  started  for  the  home  of  his 
betrothed.  Somehow  he  felt  like  a  man  slipping  his 
head  again  into  a  yoke.  His  walks  and  talks  with  Dr. 
Strong,  in  the  free  air  of  the  mountains,  his  association 
with  the  godly  Hubbards  and  the  motherly  Esther,  had 
been  a  sort  of  oasis ;  he  was  now  to  return  to  the  desert 
of  office  duties  and  an  association  with  a  rather  whimsical 
girl.  There  was  a  skeleton,  too,  to  be  brought  out  of 
its  closet,  to  be  shaken  with  all  its  jangling  articulations 
before  this  sensitive  girl's  eyes.  Mortimer  realized  that 
sooner  or  later  Alice  would  find  out  about  his  father's 
marriages.  When  Mortimer  was  accepted  by  Alice, 
her  father  had  made  some  inquiries,  but  only  pursued 
them  far  enough  to  satisfy  himself  that  Mortimer  was  a 
promising  young  lawyer  with  a  large  inherited  fortune. 
Mr.  Dupont  cared  not  to  inquire  about  family  skeletons, 
so  that  they  are  only  well  gilded. 

Mortimer's  views  of  marriage  had  rather  changed ; 
at  first  he  regarded  it  as  wholly  a  matter  of  love,  but 


92  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

he  had  come  to  look  upon  it  more  as  a  matter  of  duty. 
But  love  and  duty  are  either  the  happiest  allies  or  the 
most  uncongenial  companions.  Mortimer  in  his  talk 
with  Dr.  Strong  about  the  mind-cure  naturally  touched 
on  the  subject  of  will  power.  They  had  many  dis 
cussions  on  the  relation  of  the  will  to  the  affections,  the 
doctor  contending  that  the  affections  controlled  the 
will;  Mortimer,  that  the  will  controlled  the  affections. 
Once  when  the  argument  waxed  warm,  the  doctor 
brought  what  he  termed  a  "clincher"  in  saying, 
"William,  do  you  suppose  that  you  love  Alice  Dupont 
simply  because  you  have  willed  to  do  so?  Trace  back 
the  history  of  your  heart  experience  and  you  will  find 
(that  is,  if  you  are  like  most  lovers)  that  your  affections 
were  first  enlisted,  then  so  completely  did  they  control 
your  will  that  you  decided  to  win  her  for  yourself." 

"  I  cannot  deny  the  accuracy  of  your  description  of 
my  love  experience  at  its  commencement,"  answered 
Mortimer,  "  but  I  can  see  that  the  continuation  of  my 
affection  for  Alice  depends  on  my  will.  I  fell  in  love 
with  her ;  she  yielding  her  will  to  mine  agreed  to  marry 
me ;  now  I  exercise  my  will  to  keep  my  affection  for 
her." 

The  doctor  gave  a  searching  glance  at  Mortimer  and 
said,  "William,  if  I  believed  you  really  understood 
what  you  are  asserting,  I  would  have  very  little  faith  in 
your  ever  marrying  Alice  Dupont." 

"  Oh,"  answered  Mortimer,  carelessly,  "  you  are 
always  looking  at  these  things  from  a  philosophic 
standpoint ;  love  cannot  be  analyzed  in  the  crucible  of 
German  metaphysics ;  wait  till  you  get  in  love  yourself, 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  93 

and  you  will  find  something  which  overthrows  all 
philosophy." 

Singularly,  though  this  conversation  had  passed  from 
Mortimer's  mind,  yet,  when  he  started  for  the  Duponts' 
that  morning,  it  came  back  like  a  flash. 

At  the  Duponts'  door  he  met  Ruth  just  leaving;  he 
assisted  her  to  enter  her  carriage,  and  pausiug  at  its 
open  window,  asked,  "  How  is  your  patient?" 

Ruth  answered  courteously,  "  I  think  much  improved, 
though  not  as  much  as  I  hoped." 

"Why  so?"  inquired  Mortimer. 

Ruth  hesitated  as  if  at  a  loss  to  express  what  she 
desired,  but  said,  "  Our  treatment  depends  on  the 
patient  being  in  a  receptive  state.  This  receptive  state  is 
much  interfered  with  by  the  patient's  mind  being  in  a 
disturbed  condition;  there  is  something  evidently 
worrying  Miss  Dupont,  which  I  have  not  been  able  to 
discover ;  but,"  she  added  with  a  pleasant  smile,  "  you 
will  be  the  best  physician  for  this,  I  am  so  glad  you 
have  returned." 

"  Well,  we  will  have  to  try  to  treat  the  case  together/' 
replied  Mortimer. 

"  No,"  said  Ruth,  "  I  will  have  to  relinquish  it  to 
some  other  Christian  scientist,  for  I  start  to-morrow  for 
the  country." 

Mortimer  entered  the  house  and  found  Alice  in  the 
parlor.  She  looked  better  and  stronger  and  very 
beautiful,  indeed  there  was  an  animation  in  her  counte 
nance  which  Mortimer  had  never  before  witnessed ; 
her  eyes  sparkled  with  almost  an  unnatural  brilliancy. 
After  the  usual  greetings,  in  which  lovers  are  supposed 


94  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

to  engage  after  temporary  absences,  which  on  Alice's 
part  were  unusually  demonstrative,  Mortimer  said,  "  I 
met  your  physician  at  the  door,  and  she  seems  to  think 
you  lack  one  thing  to  complete  your  recovery." 

"  What  is  that?  "  said  Alice. 

"Why,  Miss  Page  says  you  seem  to  have  something 
on  your  mind  that  worries  you." 

To  Mortimer's  surprise,  Alice's  manner  at  once 
changed,  and  with  a  haughty  repellent  air  she  exclaimed, 
"  I  do  not  know  what  business  Miss  Page  has  with  my 
private  affairs ;  if  she  would  attend  to  her  own  business 
and  not  interfere  with  mine,  I  might  indeed  feel  better." 

"  Why,  Alice,"  said  Mortimer,  surprised  and  con 
founded,  "  I  have  given  you  a  wrong  impression. 
Miss  Page  spoke  very  kindly  of  you  and  behaved  like  a 
lady." 

"  Behaved  like  a  lady !  "  said  Alice,  with  a  scornful 
look,  "  yes,  courting  my  lover  under  my  very  eyes,  for 
did  not  I  see  her  just  now  flirting  with  you?  " 

Mortimer's  anger  began  to  rise.  "Alice,"  he  said, 
"I  will  not  hear  such  talk;  your  accusations  involve 
myself  as  much  as  they  do  Miss  Page.  It  has  come  to 
a  pretty  pass  if  I  cannot  make  an  inquiry  as  to  the 
state  of  your  health  from  your  physician,  without  being 
taxed  with  a  flirtation." 

Another  change  came  over  Alice.  She  threw  herself 
into  Mortimer's  arms,  wept  like  a  child  on  his  neck,  and 
said,  "  Oh,  William,  I  know  I  am  too  foolish,  but  I  do 
love  you  so  much.  I  cannot  account  for  my  actions, 
they  are  as  strange  to  me  as  to  yourself;  I  think  I  am 
going  crazy." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  95 

Mortimer  was  partly  propitiated,  still  the  feeling 
deepened  of  wearing  a  chain,  and  even  the  soft  arms 
around  his  neck  seemed  like  fetters.  "  Alice,"  he  said, 
"  let  us  agree  to  understand  each  other  better ;  I  tell 
you  frankly  there  is  no  girl  in  this  whole  world  to 
whom  my  heart  has  gone  out  but  to  you,  now  let  it 
stay  there,  don't  strain  the  bond  which  binds  us ;  as  for 
Miss  Page,  God  is  my  witness  that  I  have  never  seen 
her  but  thrice,  —  twice  when  I  went  to  consult  her 
about  yourself,  and  this  once,  when  I  made  a  brief 
inquiry  as  to  your  state  of  health." 

Another  change  came  over  Alice.  She  slunk  away  to 
the  other  end  of  the  sofa,  and  with  pouting  lips  looked 
steadfastly  away  from  Mortimer.  Mortimer  was  both 
perplexed  and  indignant.  "Alice,"  he  said,  "this  is 
altogether  a  queer  reception  to  give  a  lover.  What  is 
the  matter  with  you?  I  see  Miss  Page  is  right,  there  is 
something  on  your  mind." 

Tears  burst  from  Alice ;  she  sobbed  as  if  her  heart 
would  break.  Mortimer,  like  most  men,  could  not 
withstand  a  woman's  tears.  He  approached  with  a 
view  of  soothing  her,  when  she  sprang  from  him,  and 
bursting  into  a  fit  of  laughter,  exclaimed,  "  The  biggest 
joke  of  the  season !  You  don't  care  for  Miss  Page ! 
Ha,  ha,  ha !  Queer,  you  can't  be  .away  from  her  two 
weeks  without  writing  to  her." 

"  Writing  to  her ! "  exclaimed  Mortimer,  now 
thoroughly  angered,  "  I  demand  of  you,  Alice,  an 
explanation ;  I  have  borne  this  behavior  long  enough." 

"Well,"  said  Alice,  with  an  impudent  air,  "  I  don't 
see  why  I  need  to  explain ;  you  know  as  well  as  I  do 
that  you  wrote  a  letter  to  Miss  Page." 


96  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"  Did  Miss  Page  say  I  wrote  her  a  letter?  if  so,  she 
lied,"  said  Mortimer,  now  furious. 

"Yes,  —  that  is,  she  said  you  sent  her  a  note 
introducing  Dr.  Strong." 

"Ah!  that  is  a  different  matter,  so  I  did;  but  I 
demand  to  know  whether  she  indicated  that  I  wrote 
anything  else.  If  so,  I  shall  see  Miss  Page  immediately." 

"  No,"  said  Alice,  with  provoking  calmness,  "  she 
merely  said  that  Dr.  Strong  had  come  to  her  with  a 
card  of  introduction  from  you."  Then  Alice  began  to 
laugh  again.  Then  again  flinging  her  arms  around 
Mortimer's  neck,  and  bursting  into  tears,  she  said,  "  Oh, 
William,  I  don't  know  why  I  am  so  foolish.  Pardon 
me,  I  do  love  you  so." 

But  Mortimer  freed  himself  from  her  embrace,  and, 
rising  up  with  a  determined  look,  said,  "  Alice,  I  have 
had  enough  of  this  comedy  and  am  now  prepared  for 
the  tragedy.  You  profess  with  one  breath  to  love  me 
and  with  the  next  taunt  me,  even  with  laughter,  about 
my  behavior  to  Miss  Page.  You  evidently  have  very 
little  respect  for,  or  confidence  in,  my  fidelity  to  yourself. 
I,  also,  in  our  absence  from  each  other,  have  been 
reviewing  our  relations,  and  the  memory  of  our  frequent 
quarrels  in  the  past,  with  the  experiences  of  this  present 
moment,  makes  me  feel  as  if  the  chain  binding  us 
together  must  be  sooner  or  later  snapped." 

"Chain,"  said  Alice,  springing  to  her  feet  with 
flashing  eye  and  quivering  in  every  limb,  "  chain !  has 
it  come  to  this,  that  you  speak  of  what  binds  you  to 
me  as  a  chain?  Perhaps,  Mr.  Mortimer,  you  would 
then  like  to  have  it  broken." 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  97 

Mortimer  hesitated;  it  was  a  turning  point.  The 
chain  did  indeed  seem  heavy  just  then,  but  could  he 
lightly  break  it?  He  walked  up  and  down  the  room, 
then  halting  at  the  sofa  on  which  Alice  sat  (she  being 
again  in  a  flood  of  tears),  said,  "We  both  should 
try  to  get  into  a  better  frame  of  mind  before  we  talk 
more." 

"  Now  that  is  too  hard,"  sobbed  Alice,  "  I  am  not  in 
a  bad  frame  of  mind ;  it  is  only  you  who  persist  in 
worrying  me  nearly  to  death." 

"Well,"  said  Mortimer,  cynically,  "I  had  better 
abbreviate  my  call,  then,  for  I  may  injure  your  mind  so 
much  that  a  hundred  mind-curers  cannot  heal  it." 

Alice  immediately  stopped  crying,  and  then  with  a 
laugh  put  out  her  hands,  saying,  "  Come,  William,  let 
us  make  up.  I  will  try  to  do  better;  I  am  really 
ashamed  of  myself." 

But  Mortimer  did  not  stretch  out  his  hand.  He 
took  another  turn  around  the  room,  then,  with  a 
determined  air,  planting  himself  in  front  of  Alice,  said, 
"  I  may  have  spoken  too  hastily,  but  I  confess  I  cannot 
bear  to  be  treated  as  I  have  been  by  you  to-day, 
especially  as  the  cause  of  it  all  is  your  taxing  me  with 
an  interest  in  a  lady  in  whom  I  have  never  felt  the 
slightest  interest  except  as  your  physician." 

Alice  again  burst  into  tears  and  said,  "  I  did  not  tax 
you.  I  only  noticed  how  affectionately  you  regarded 
her  when  I  caught  you  talking  with  her  at  her  carriage 
window." 

"  Caught  me !  Miss  Dupont,"  exclaimed  Mortimer, 
"  I  will  not  submit  to  such  insinuations,  nor  keep  you 


98  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

bound  to  one  whom  you  think  is  liable  to  be  *  caught' 
in  self-compromising  actions."  And  before  Alice 
could  answer  he  strode  out  of  the  room,  shut  the  door 
after  him  with  such  a  slam  that  the  waiter  hurried  to 
see  what  was  the  matter.  To  his  surprise  he  found  his 
mistress  lying  fainting  on  the  floor. 

A  loud  call  brought  her  mother.  Alice  was  taken 
to  her  room,  where  she  repeatedly  swooned.  Mrs. 
Dupont  in  great  alarm  sent  for  the  nearest  doctor. 
One  was  found  but  a  few  doors  distant,  who  had  heard 
the  neighborhood  talk  of  the  wonderful  cure  of  Mr. 
Dupont's  daughter  by  the  mind  doctress.  Dr.  Dissle 
was  therefore  surprised  to  be  summoned  to  the  house ; 
but  as  doctors  do  not  hesitate  over  rich  patients  he 
immediately  came.  His  first  question  was,  what  brought 
on  the  trouble  ?  No  one  knew.  Mrs.  Dupont  suspected, 
from  the  servant's  account  of  the  slamming  of  the  door, 
Mortimer  must  have  taken  his  departure  after  some 
quarrel  between  him  and  Alice.  This  she  could  not 
tell  the  doctor,  who,  however,  perceiving  the  hysterical 
condition  of  his  patient,  administered  a  nervous  sedative 
and  soon  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  Alice  sink  into 
a  gentle  slumber,  then  he  took  his  departure,  having 
warned  her  mother  to  abstain  from  all  conversation 
with  her  daughter. 

It  was  only  on  the  third  day,  when  Alice  was  able  to 
sit  up,  that  Mrs.  Dupont  quietly  extracted  from  her 
some  confirmations  of  her  suspicion,  yet,  as  to  the  cause 
of  her  quarrel  with  Mortimer,  Alice  was  dumb.  No 
questioning  could  wrest  the  secret  from  her.  But  what 
worried  her  mother  most  was,  there  were  no  signs 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  99 

of  Mortimer's  return.  Day  after  day  passed,  and 
though  Alice  was  frequently  at  the  window  looking  out, 
yet  no  call  or  even  inquiry  after  her  health  came  from 
Mortimer.  At  last  Mrs.  Dupont  said  to  her  husband, 
"  I  think  it  is  due  to  Alice  that  you  should  hunt  up 
Mr.  Mortimer  and  demand  why  he  so  neglects  his 
betrothed." 

"  Oh,"  said  Mr.  Dupont,  carelessly,  "  there  are  as 
good  fish  in  the  sea  as  out  of  it.  If  William  Mortimer 
does  not  want  to  marry  my  daughter,  I  do  not  propose 
to  drag  him  into  the  marriage." 

"  No,"  said  Mrs.  Dupont,  "  that  is  not  what  I  mean ; 
but  I  do  not  wish  Alice  to  go  on  wearing  the  engage 
ment  ring  of  a  man  who  treats  her  so  shamefully." 

We  left  Mortimer  hurrying  from  the  Dupont 
mansion.  He  repaired  to  his  bachelor  lodgings,  locked 
the  door,  sat  down  and  meditated.  He  was  reviewing 
his  past  with  Alice  and  taking  an  introspection  of  his 
own  heart.  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  somehow  I  feel  as  if 
at  last  a  chain  is  broken  that  has  been  binding  me, 
and,"  clenching  his  fist  and  bringing  it  down  on  his 
knee,  "  I  will  not  have  it  riveted  again.  I  will  break 
off  this  engagement  now  and  forever."  Pulling  out  a 
secret  drawer  he  took  therefrom  a  miniature,  a  lock  of 
hair,  a  package  of  letters,  and,  wrapping  them  up  in  a 
neat  bundle,  rang  the  bell.  His  valet  appeared.  "John," 
said  he,  "take  this  card  to  Mr.  Dupont's,  ask  to  see 
Miss  Alice,  and  hand  her  this  package.  If  you  cannot 
see  her  alone,  bring  it  back  to  me." 

After  an  hour  John  returned.  "  Master,"  he  said, 
"  I  saw  the  butler  and  he  said  that  Miss  Alice  was  sick 


lOO  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

and  a  doctor  attending  her,  and  he  knew  I  could  not 
see  her  alone." 

"Well,  what  did  you  do  with  the  package?" 

"  Brought  it  back,  sir." 

Mortimer  taking  the  bundle  tossed  it  into  the  drawer. 
"  Perhaps  it's  as  well,"  he  said.  "  I  will  wait  first  to 
hear  from  Alice." 

But  day  after  day  passed,  at  last  came  a  note 
from  Mrs.  Dupont,  saying  she  thought  that  Mr. 
Mortimer  ought  to  know  that  since  his  last  visit  her 
daughter  had  been  very  sick.  At  first  some  feelings 
of  compunction  rose  in  Mortimer's  heart,  but  then 
again  returned  the  feeling  of  impatience  to  have  the 
chain  loosened.  He  answered  Mrs.  Dupont  very  coolly, 
saying  that  "  he  was  extremely  sorry  to  hear  of  her 
daughter's  illness,  but,  as  Mrs.  Dupont  had  not  stated 
that  Miss  Dupont  desired  to  see  him,  he  felt  that  it 
would  be  presumptuous  to  call." 

Mrs.  Dupont  was  now  in  a  strait.  She  had  written 
to  Mortimer  without  her  husband's  knowledge.  She 
did  not  want  to  confess  that  to  him.  She  could  not 
read  the  note  to  Alice,  because  Alice  had  not  asked 
her  to  write  to  Mortimer.  But  she  must  do  something, 
so  she  told  her  husband  on  his  return. 

Mr.  Dupont  read  the  note  and  then  said,  "Well, 
this  is  a  pretty  muss.  But  one  thing  is  apparent  to 
me.  This  man  wants  his  engagement  with  our  daughter 
broken.  Now,  wife,  I  beg  you  to  let  Alice  be  the  first 
to  break  it." 

"  But  how  can  it  be  done  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Dupont.  "  She 
is  too  weak  to  speak  about  it." 

"  Well,  anyway,  ask  Dr.  Dissle." 


OR,    THE   NEW   ttYGEIA. 


"  Oh,  I  can't  mention  such  a  matter  to  a  person  out 
of  our  family." 

"  Pshaw  !  A  doctor  is  father-confessor  for  everyone. 
He  knows  all  the  love  secrets  and  other  secrets  of  his 
patients.  Leave  it  to  me ;  I'll  have  a  talk  with  the 
doctor." 

Dr.  Dissle,  on  being  consulted,  said,  "  Mr.  Dupont, 
I  would  have  this  matter  settled  some  way.  It  will 
do  your  daughter  more  harm  to  be  kept  in  a  state  of 
suspense  than  to  have  the  thing  decided  either  way." 

Mr.  Dupont  acted  on  the  advice.  He  took  the  first 
opportunity  to  break  to  Alice  the  state  of  affairs.  At 
first  Alice  was  hysterical,  but  this  was  controlled  by  a 
dose  of  assafetida.  Then  she  was  disconsolate ;  then 
she  was  mad,  at  least  mad  enough  to  say  that  if 
Mr.  Mortimer  had  not  wished  to  see  her  as  soon  as  he 
heard  of  her  extreme  illness  he  might  go. 

"Well,"  said  her  father,  seizing  the  opportunity, 
"  suppose  you  let  your  mother  tell  him  so." 

"  No,  not  yet.     Suppose  we  wait  a  day  or  two." 

Mr.  Dupont  waited,  though  with  great  reluctance. 
By  this  time  Alice  was  beginning  to  feel  the  tonic 
effects  of  wounded  pride.  "  Let  him  go,"  said  she. 
"  Take  this  ring  and  send  it  to  him,  with  this  message : 
*  Miss  Dupont  cannot  but  gather  from  Mr.  Mortimer's 
utter  neglect  of  her  that  his  feelings  have  changed. 
She  therefore  places  this  ring  at  his  disposal.' " 

When  Alice's  letter  and  ring  were  received  by 
Mortimer,  the  flame  of  love  seemed  to  flicker  for  a 
moment  in  his  heart,  but  it  was  like  the  last  flickering 
in  the  socket  before  the  candle  goes  out.  He  waited 


JQ2  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

for  an  hour,  meditated,  then  rose  and  took  the  package 
he  had  previously  prepared,  put  his  hand  on  the  bell- 
handle,  then  stopped,  went  back,  and  attempted  to 
write  a  letter.  He  wrote  one,  then  tore  it  up ;  wrote 
another,  tore  it  up,  then  another,  tore  it  up ;  then, 
gathering  all  the  fragments  together,  threw  them  into 
the  fire  and  rang  the  bell.  Handing  the  package  to 
his  servant,  he  said,  "John,  leave  this  at  Mr.  Dupont's 
door." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  103 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE     MATERIALIST     HOLDS    A    PHILOSOPHICAL     POST 
MORTEM  ON  MORTIMER'S  LOVE  AFFAIRS. 

Dr.  Strong  did  not  know  of  Mortimer's  return  to  the 
city  until  the  day  after  the  latter's  final  break  with 
Alice.  The  doctor  had  been  longing  to  have  a  talk 
with  Mortimer  about  Ruth,  for  somehow  he  could  not 
keep  her  out  of  his  thoughts.  So,  like  a  man  who 
wishes  to  conceal  the  state  of  his  own  heart  affairs,  he 
was  no  sooner  seated  in  Mortimer's  room  than  he  began 
inquiring  particularly  after  Alice.  "  How  is  your 
charming  fiancee  f  "  asked  the  doctor,  as  he  took  down 
a  pipe  always  kept  for  him  on  Mortimer's  mantel ; 
"  has  the  fair  mind-curer  healed  Alice's  mental  and 
physical  woes?  " 

"  I  know  very  little  about  Miss  Dupont,"  said  Morti 
mer,  doggedly. 

"Miss  Dupont /  has  it  come  to  that,  why,  what's 
the  matter?  Have  you  been  indulging  in  a  love 
quarrel,  so  as  to  enjoy  the  deliciousness  of  a  make 
up?" 

"  It  will  never  be  a  make-up,"  said  Mortimer, 
solemnly. 


IO4  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

Dr.  Strong  was  about  t<?  laugh  at  the  solemnity  of 
his  friend's  tone,  when  turning  and  catching  Mortimer's 
eye  he  saw  it  was  no  time  for  jesting.  He  therefore 
said  kindly,  "  Well,  William,  I  don't  want  to  interfere 
with  your  love  affairs,  for  I  have  a  great  respect  for  both 
yourself  and  Miss  Dupont,  who  with  all  her  eccentricities 
is  a  noble  girl." 

"  Doctor,"  said  Mortimer,  "  the  fact  is  I  have  found 
out  that  your  theory  is  the  correct  one,  the  will  cannot 
control  the  affections.  I  believe  I  did  once  love  Alice, 
but  my  affection  began  to  weaken  under  her  peculiar 
eccentricities.  Still,  I  would  have  done  my  part  if  she 
had  not  in  our  last  interview  behaved  like  a  —  a  fiend  !  " 
gasped  out  Mortimer. 

"  A  fiend  !  why,  that's  a  very  hard  word  to  apply  to 
any  woman." 

"  Well,  hear  the  story,  then,  Doctor,"  and  Mortimer 
proceeded  to  narrate  the  events  of  which  the  reader 
has  been  informed  in  the  last  chapter. 

Dr.  Strong  heard  him  calmly  through,  though  when 
Mortimer  mentioned  Alice's  jealousy  of  his  letter 
introducing  the  doctor  to  Ruth,  the  doctor  puffed 
his  pipe  very  vigorously.  Still,  he  heard  Mortimer 
patiently  through,  and  then  turning  to  him  said, 
"  William,  I  expect  you  will  break  with  me  now, 
as  you  have  with  Alice  Dupont,  but  I  must  clear  my 
conscience  by  telling  you  that  you  have  acted  like  a 
fool." 

Mortimer's  face  flushed.  "  Look  here,  Strong,"  he 
said,  "  I  can  stand  a  great  deal  from  you,  but  I  won't 
stand  that." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  IC>5 

"  Yes,"  said  the  doctor  calmly,  rising  and  refilling  his 
pipe,  "you  will  not  only  have  to  stand  it,  but  your 
conscience  will  yet  force  you  to  indorse  it.  Now  hear 
me.  I  have  never  inquired  particularly  about  the 
symptoms  of  your  betrothed.  It  was  none  of  my 
business.  I  was  not  her  physician.  But  I  can  tell  you 
this,  and  any  physician  will  confirm  it,  that  you  have 
quarrelled  with  Miss  Dupont  simply  because  you 
happened  to  meet  her  when  the  poor  girl  was  suffering 
from  a  fit  of  hysteria." 

"  Hysteria,  fiddlesticks  !  "  said  Mortimer,  "  it  was 
insane  and  unwarranted  jealousy.  Besides,  am  I  to 
keep  an  engagement  with  a  girl  who  goes  off  in  what 
you  call  hysteria,  because  I  simply  write  a  card  of 
introduction  for  a  friend,  or  talk  ten  minutes  with  her 
female  physician?  " 

"  I  grant  you,"  replied  Dr.  Strong,  "  that  it  is  both 
insane  and  unwarranted  conduct  in  Miss  Dupont,  but 
still  there  would  not  have  been  this  jealousy  had  she 
not  have  been  in  this  hysterical  state  of  body." 

"  There  is  your  cursed  materialism  again,"  said 
Mortimer,  "  you  would  have  me  believe  that  the 
character  of  a  woman  is  dependent  on  her  state  of  body. 
I  suppose,  then,  you  would  think  that  my  duty  was, 
when  Miss  Dupont  behaved  so,  to  have  simply  bid  her 
good  morning." 

"  Certainly,"  said  the  doctor,  "  what  the  girl  needed 
at  that  time  was  not  a  lover  but  a  physician." 

Mortimer  broke  out  into  a  fit  of  laughter.  Dr. 
Strong  knocked  the  ashes  out  of  his  pipe,  and  said  with 
evident  annoyance,  "  Well,  William,  I  guess  you  have 
got  the  hysterics  yourself  now." 


106  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Mortimer,  "  you  ought  as  a  doctor  to 
know  that  the  other  sex  have  the  monopoly  of  that 
disease." 

"  I  know  no  such  thing.  All  the  best  medical 
writers  hold  that  this  peculiar  morbid  excitement  of  the 
nervous  system,  showing  itself  in  occasional  convulsive 
paroxysms  and  diversified  functional  disorder,  occurs  in 
men  as  well  as  in  women,  though  of  course  it  is  a 
misnomer  to  name  it  hysteria.  But,  Mortimer,  what 
do  you  find  to  excite  your  mirth  in  my  simple  propo 
sition  that  what  Miss  Dupont  needed  was  medicine." 

"  I  was  thinking,"  said  Mortimer  laughingly,  "  how 
beautiful  it  would  be  to  test  your  theory  by  a  practical 
application,  and  what  a  wonderful  change  it  would  thus 
introduce  into  the  methods  of  courtship.  For  example, 
a  man  prepares  himself  to  propose  to  the  girl  he  loves. 
Since,  as  you  say,  men  can  have  the  hysterics,  he  first 
fortifies  himself  by  filling  his  pockets  with  a  sort  of 
travelling  drug  store.  He  puts  therein  a  box  of 
assafetida,  a  phial  of  Hoffman's  anodyne,  another 
of  fluid  extract  of  valerian,  another  of  camphor  water. 
When  ringing  the  door-bell  of  his  fair  one's  home,  on 
the  momentous  evening  which  is  to  decide  his  fate,  he 
finds  his  hand  trembles ;  down  goes  that  hand  into  his 
pocket,  and  he  takes  two  or  three  assafetida  pills.  On 
meeting  his  beloved  in  the  parlor,  his  heart  begins  to 
palpitate,  he  quietly  turns  his  head  and  takes  a  swallow 
of  valerian ;  when  he  comes  to  the  fatal  moment,  he 
discovers  some  hesitancy  in  his  speech,  —  awful  thought, 
—  incipient  paralysis  may  be  setting  in  !  he  immediately 
swallows  a  pill  of  strychnine.  We  will  suppose  he  gets 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  107 

through  his  part  of  the  love  scene,  having  thus  success 
fully  warded  off  the  hysterics.  Now,  he  is  to  be  equally 
careful  lest  he  may  cause  too  great  nervous  excitement 
in  his  beloved,  which  might  develope  into  hysteria. 
He  says,  '  Irene,  I  love  you.'  Irene  begins  to  tremble, 
her  face  flushes,  tears  start  in  her  eyes,  she  becomes 
wildly  agitated.  The  kind  and  judicious  materialistic 
lover  takes  in  the  situation.  He  says,  '  Stop,  my  dear, 
don't  answer  me  until  you  have  swallowed  this,'  and  he 
gently  presses  to  her  sweet  lips  —  his  bottle  of  Hoff 
man's  anodyne.  She  takes  a  draught,  and  oh  !  blessed 
effect  of  matter  over  mind,  she  becomes  calm,  and  like  a 
cooing  dove  sweetly  whispers,  '  Alphonso,  I  am  thine 
forever.' " 

Dr.  Strong  could  not  help  joining  in  the  hearty  laugh 
of  Mortimer,  and  the  laugh  restored  the  entente  cordiale 
between  the  two  friends. 

"But  now,  seriously  speaking,"  said  Mortimer, 
"  doctor,  is  there  not  to  be  taken  into  account  in  such 
nervous  disorders  the  moral  condition  of  the  patient? 
Suppose,  for  example,  there  had  not  been  jealousy  in 
Alice  Dupont's  heart,  would  she  have  had  what  you 
deem  a  fit  of  hysteria?  It  is  this  point  which  confounds 
me  when  I  attempt  to  view  man  only  from  the  stand 
point  of  his  material  organism ;  there  seems  always  to 
lie  behind  the  material  the  spiritual,  or  as  the  mind- 
curers  would  say,  the  '  fixity  of  thought  in  proper  or 
improper  directions.' " 

The  doctor  answered,  "  There  is,  undoubtedly,  behind 
the  body  a  mind,  and  that  I  have  never  denied.  The 
only  thing  where  we  seem  to  differ  is  whether  there  is 


108  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

behind  the  mind  a  body.  Take,  for  example,  this  very 
disease,  hysteria.  Physicians  often  resort  to  shocks  on 
the  mind  to  relieve  its  paroxysms.  One  of  our  best 
medical  writers,  Dr.  Wood,  *  says,  '  It  will  sometimes 
be  advisable  to  speak  in  a  decided  tone  in  the  presence 
of  the  patient,  of  the  necessity  of  shaving  the  head  and 
applying  a  blister  should  she  not  be  soon  relieved. 
Strong  mental  impressions  have  a  powerful  influence 
over  the  disease;  and  sufficient  consciousness  often 
remains  during  the  apparent  coma  to  appreciate  an 
observation  of  this  kind.  It  does  not  follow  that 
because  such  a  mental  impression  may  prove  useful 
the  patient  has  been  counterfeiting  illness.  It  acts  by 
replacing  one  impression  by  another  more  powerful  for 
a  time.'  "  Where  I  differ,"  continued  the  doctor,  "  from 
our  fair  mind^curer  is  that  she  would  ascribe  this  to  the 
shock  produced  on  the  moral  sensibilities  of  the  patient ; 
I  would  ascribe  it  to  a  strong  impression  made  on  the 
nervous  centres,  and  as  hysteria  is  often  accompanied 
with  tenderness  of  the  spine,  this  strong  impression  on 
the  emotional  centres  may  act  revulsively  upon  the 
cerebro-spinal  cavity  by  calling  off  irritation  from  those 
centres  which  give  convulsive  movements." 

"Well,  doctor,"  said  Mortimer,  "when  you  get  into 
your  medical  metaphysics  I  cannot  follow  you,  but  I 
would  ask  you  this  question, —  do  you  not  acknowledge 
that  the  will  has  much  to  do  with  hysteria?  the  very 
example  you  cite  of  conquering  it  by  threatening  to 
shave  the  patient's  head  is  really  rousing  the  patient, 
through  fear,  to  exert  her  will  power." 

*  A  treatise  on  the  Practice  of  Medicine,  Geo.  W.  Wood,  M.  D.  Article, 
Hysteria. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA. 

The  doctor  answered,  "  As  an  ultra-materialist  I  do 
not  believe  much  in  will  power,  but  I  acknowledge  that 
some  of  the  ablest  physiologists  hold  that  the  patient 
may  herself  do  much  in  controlling  the  tendency  to  the 
hysterical  paroxysm  by  a  determined  act  of  the  will." 

"Well,  doctor,  you  have  converted  me  to  believe 
that  the  affections  control  the  will ;  therefore,  according 
to  these  medical  authorities,  diseases  like  hysteria  have 
an  intimate  connection  with  the  moral  character  of  the 
patient." 

"  Well,  I  acknowledge,"  answered  the  doctor,  "  that 
from  this  standpoint  your  logic  is  conclusive,  but  as  a 
consistent  materialist  I  would  drop  out  one  of  the 
premises  in  your  argument;  I  do  not  view  as  you  do 
the  will  as  a  moral  faculty.  I  believe  the  will  is  part  of 
the  mind,  and  that  thought  is  but  a  secretion  or  nerve 
movement  of  the  brain." 

"  '  May  God  have  mercy  on  your  soul,1  as  the  judge 
says  when  he  condemns  a  man  to  be  hung,"  replied 
Mortimer.  "  I  would  like  to  ask  you  one  more 
question.  If  thought  is  only  the  secretion  of  the  brain, 
what  secretion  or  vibration  of  the  brain  gives  the  I  — 
the  thinker  himself — the  one  person  who  remains  the 
same  through  his  whole  life  amid  the  thousand  changes 
of  thoughts  and  feelings?  You  coolly  try,  doctor,  to 
take  one  link  out  of  my  argument;  I  do  not  take  any 
out  of  yours,  for  you  have  yourself  confessedly  left  out 
one  which  renders  your  materialistic  theory  utterly 
useless.  Yours  is  the  tumbling  arch  because  it  lacks 
a  keystone ;  there  is  nothing  to  bridge  the  space 
between  the  man,  —  the  Ego,  —  and  his  physical 
make-up." 


IIO  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

Dr.  Strong  did  not  answer  his  friend.  He  sat  and 
puffed  away  at  his  pipe,  but  at  last  said,  "  Mortimer, 
since  we  are  having  a  very  confidential  talk  together,  I 
will  say  to  you  that  this  Miss  Page  has  set  me  to 
thinking.  I,  of  course,  do  not  accept  her  theory,  for  it 
is  nonsensical ;  but  the  fact  that  a  young,  beautiful  girl, 
who  might  shine  in  the  highest  circles  of  society,  should 
voluntarily  give  up  her  life  to  proclaiming  a  theory 
which  she  believes  will  benefit  the  human  race,  is  an 
enigma  to  me,"  and  he  added  with  a  sigh,  "  that  fact 
itself  is  the  severest  blow  my  materialism  has  ever 
received.  Here  is  something  more  than  matter,  here  is 
soul.  Now,  I  am  going  to  make  another  confession  to 
you ;  I  find  this  heart  of  mine  beats  pretty  rapidly 
when  I  come  in  contact  with  Miss  Page.  I  acknowledge 
that  your  project  of  dosing  it,  even  with  assafetida, 
would  not  keep  it  quiet  in  her  presence ;  now  what  do 
you  advise  me  to  do  ?  " 

"  Let  it  beat  on,  my  good  fellow,"  said  Mortimer, 
slapping  his  friend  on  his  back,  "  and  I  will  warrant 
that  if  her  heart  only  responds,  it  will  be  the  best  case 
of  mind-healing  that  Miss  Page  ever  effected." 


OR,    THE   NEW    HYGEIA.  Ill 


CHAPTER   XII. 

MRS.    DUPONT    PERFORMS    A    WONDERFUL    MIND-CURE 
ON   HER  DAUGHTER. 

Lest  the  cure  about  to  be  narrated  should  tax 
the  reader's  faith,  it  may  be  well  to  premise  some 
quotations  from  high  medical  authorities.  To  the 
exclamation  (!)  of  the  reader  we  oppose  the  quota 
tion  ("),  a  mode  of  argument  even  older  than  the 
Socratic,  for  did  not  Herodotus,  the  "  father  of 
history,"  defend  his  toughest  statements  by  his  oft 
repeated  "they  say?"  What  is  most  history,  after  all, 
but  respectable  gossip?  and  what  would  the  lawyer, 
doctor,  and,  for  all  that,  the  minister,  do  without  his 
"  they  say  ?  "  But  to  the  "  's. 

Sir  John  Hunter,  the  celebrated  English  surgeon, 
once  wrote,  —  "As  one  state  of  the  mind  is  capable  of 
producing  a  disease,  another  state  of  it  may  effect  a 
cure."  Daniel  Hack  Tuke,  M.  D.,  M.  R.  C.  P.,  etc.,  etc., 
whose  work  on  the  "  Influence  of  the  Mind  on  the  Body" 
is  considered  a  standard  one,  accepts  this  statement  of 
Hunter's  with  one  modification,  namely,  that  the  same 
emotion  may  effect  different  results  on  the  body,  thus 
he  says,  "  Fear  may  heal  as  well  as  cause  disease." 


112  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

Sir  Benjamin  Brodie  records  a  case  which  illustrates 
both  Hunter's  aphorism  and  the  experience  of  Alice 
Dupont.  He  says  that  a  young  lady,  who  had  long 
labored  under  hysterical  neuralgia  of  the  hip  and  thigh, 
immediately  lost  all  her  symptoms  by  being  thrown  from 
a  donkey  she  was  riding.  On  this  incident  related  by 
Brodie,  Dr.  Tuke  remarks,  "  When  we  see  the  mental 
emotions  caused  by  the  fall  from  a  donkey  cure  a 
disorder,  of  which  Dr.  Copeland  says,  '  There  are  few 
diseases  less  under  the  control  of  medical  treatment/ 
we  can  scarcely  exaggerate  the  importance  of  attacking 
disease  psycologically." 

Dr.  Rush,  who,  in  his  day,  was  regarded  the  apostle 
of  American  medical  science,  gives  in  his  "Letters" 
many  remarkable  cases  of  cures  effected  by  emotions 
awakened  in  patriotic  breasts  during  the  war  of  the 
Revolution.  He  affirms,  "  This  was  the  case  in  a  more 
especial  manner  with  hysterical  women,  who  were  much 
interested  in  the  successful  issue  of  the  contest."  The 
same  effects  on  hysterical  patients  were  observed  by 
Dr.  Cullen  in  Scotland  during  the  war  of  1745—6. 

Now,  the  author  does  not  wish  to  compare  the  state 
of  Alice  Dupont  to  the  case  above  mentioned,  —  a 
woman  cured  of  hysteria  by  a  fall  from  a  donkey  — 
for  that  would  be  a  reflection  on  our  hero,  William 
Mortimer;  but  he  humbly  submits  to  the  skeptical 
reader  whether,  in  face  of  the  opinions  and  facts  above 
quoted,  he  is  to  be  doubted  when  asserting  that  Alice 
Dupont's  break  with  Mortimer,  instead  of  killing  her, 
actually  cured  her.  But  to  the  facts  of  the  case. 

When  Alice  returned  her  engagement  ring,  she  sent 


OR,   THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  113 

with  it  a  picture  of  herself,  and  the  note  she  then  wrote 
had  this  equivocal  phrase,  "  she  placed  the  ring  at 
Mr.  Mortimer's  disposal."  Alice  secretly  hoped  the 
disposal  Mortimer  would  make  of  said  ring  would  be  to 
bring  it  back,  and  kneel  at  her  feet  in  penitent  adora 
tion.  Mrs.  Dupont  saw  the  state  of  affairs,  and, 
realizing  that  the  very  uncertainty  in  Alice's  mind  was 
retarding  her  recovery,  concluded  that  the  bridges  must 
be  burned  behind  her  daughter  before  she  could  win 
a  victory  over  herself.  When  the  package  came  back 
from  Mortimer  Mrs.  Dupont  opened  it,  and,  discovering 
it  contained  all  that  Mortimer  possessed  of  Alice's  love 
tokens,  wisely  conjectured  it  was  intended  to  express 
the  final  break  of  their  engagement.  She  determined 
to  utilize  this  returned  package  for  a  final  break-off  of 
Alice's  heart  from  Mortimer,  but,  with  the  wisdom  of 
the  serpent  combined  with  the  harmlessness  of  the 
dove,  she  calmly  waited  an  opportunity  to  make  a 
coup  de  main.  The  opportunity  soon  came.  They 
were  alone,  Alice  being  in  a  quiescent  but  pensive 
state.  Suddenly  Alice  broke  out  with  the  exclamation, 
"  I  cannot  stand  this  suspense  any  longer.  Mr. 
Mortimer  has  not  even  noticed  my  note.  I  wonder 
whether  he  is  out  of  town." 

"  No,"  said  her  mother.  *'  I  have  reason  to  know  he 
is  in  the  city." 

"Are  you  sure  of  that?"  said  Alice. 

"  Perfectly  sure.  I  suppose  he  is  happy  now,  when 
he  finds  the  chain  broken  which  bound  him  to  you." 

"  Oh,"  said  Alice,  unconsciously  divulging  the  subject 
of  their  love-quarrel,  "  that  is  the  very  expression  he 
used." 


114  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"  He  called  his  engagement  to  you  a  chain,  did  he?" 
exclaimed  her  mother.  "  And  now  in  his  utter  heart- 
lessness  he  hurls  back  in  your  face  the  last  links  of  that 
chain.  I  knew  it  was  too  heavy  a  blow,  my  daughter, 
to  have  it  suddenly  come  upon  you,  so  I  have  not 
before  given  you  this  package.  Open  it  and  see  what 
it  contains." 

'     Alice  slowly  opened  and  inspected  its  contents,  then 
began  to  cry. 

"  You  might  as  well  save  your  tears,"  said  Mrs. 
Dupont.  "  They  are  certainly  wasted  on  such  a  hard 
hearted  wretch  as  that  Mortimer.  Why,  you  ought  to 
rejoice  that  you  have  escaped  marriage  with  such  a 
man." 

"  Ah,  mother,  somehow  I  cannot,"  said  Alice. 

"  Well,  cry  on,  then,"  said  Mrs.  Dupont.  "  How 
it  would  natter  William  Mortimer's  pride  if  he  saw 
those  tears." 

Alice  stopped  crying,  but  still  whimpered,  "  Anyway, 
mother,  there  is  nothing  left  for  me  but  a  blighted  life." 

"  Pshaw,"  said  Mrs.  Dupont. 

Alice  was  enraged  at  the  unsympathetic  behavior  of 
her  parent.  "  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  mother,"  she  said 
with  vehemence,  "  there  is  nothing  left  of  life  for  me  to 
enjoy,  I  shall  retire  from  the  world  and  go  into  a 
convent." 

"  Just  what  William  Mortimer  would  like,"  said  Mrs. 
Dupont.  "  How  agreeable  to  him  your  being  where 
the  sight  of  you  will  not  trouble  him  again." 

Alice  pondered ;  she  began  to  feel  she  must  do 
something  desperate  to  avenge  herself.  With  a  tragic 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  II*, 

air  she  rose  and  said,  "  I  believe  I  will  commit  suicide ; 
how  William  will  feel  when  he  finds  he  is  my  murderer  !  " 

"  Relieved,"  calmly  answered  Mrs.  Dupont. 

"  Why,  what  do  you  mean,  mother  ?  "  exclaimed  Alice. 

"Just what  I  said,  for  he  has  broken  this  engagement 
on  the  plea  that  you  are  a  poor,  hysterical  girl,  whose 
physical  condition  is  such  that  no  man  could  live  with 
her.  Now,  if  you  will  only  go  and  commit  suicide  you 
will  furnish  him  one  of  the  best  proofs  of  the  truth  of 
his  assertion.  Society,  instead  of  saying,  —  poor  Alice  ! 
will  say, — poor  Mortimer  !  " 

"Well,"  said  Alice,  despairingly,  "  mother,  what  would 
you  advise  me  to  do?  " 

"  Be  yourself,  that  is  all ;  avenge  yourself  on  Morti 
mer  by  showing  society  your  own  noble  nature.  Let  it 
know  that  Mortimer  lies  when  he  pictures  you  as  a 
poor,  weak,  hysterical  creature ;  yea,  let  him  see  what 
a  noble  prize  he  has  lost,  and  lost  forever." 

Alice  began  involuntarily  to  straighten  herself  up. 
Had  not  her  mother's  hand  touched  the  right  cords? 
But  conscience  also  began  to  work  in  Alice.  She 
remembered  that  the  real  cause  of  their  quarrel  was 
Ruth  Page.  She  said  hesitatingly,  "  Mother,  I  ought 
to  tell  you  something,  because  it  might  change  your 
opinion  about  this  matter.  The  cause  of  our  quarrel 
was  that  I  blamed  William  with  showing  too  much 
affection  for  Miss  Page." 

"  And  did  he  get  angry  when  you  taxed  him  with 
this?"  answered  Mrs.  Dupont,  "then  he  must  have 
been  guilty,  for  he  would  have  only  laughed  at  your 
suspicions  had  he  been  innocent." 

"Yes,  he  got  fearfully  angry." 


Il6  .          RUTH,   THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"Has  it  come  to  that?"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Dupont, 
"that  Mortimer  could  be  engaged  to  you  and  be 
flirting  with  another  girl  whom  he  actually  introduces 
into  our  family  as  your  doctress  ;  why,  what  a  deliver 
ance  you  have  had,  Alice.  But  remember  this,  that 
society  with  its  hundred  gossipy  tongues  will  soon  be 
discussing  this  affair.  Mortimer  will  not  dare  to  allude 
to  Miss  Page,  he  will  throw  the  whole  blame  on  your 
hysterical,  unreasonable  disposition,  will  picture  you  as 
a  mere  show  card  in  society's  windows,  which  drew  him 
into  a  bad  bargain.  What  you  really  need  is  to  put 
forth  every  effort  to  show  how  physically  strong  you 
are." 

"  And  I  am  strong,"  said  Alice,  rising  and  pacing  the 
room,  "  I  feel  I  can  conquer  this  disease.  I  will  let 
William  Mortimer  know  that  I  am  not  the  weak 
creature  he  claims;  mother,  where  is  our  carriage?  I 
want  to  ride  out  in  the  park  this  afternoon." 

Mrs.  Dupont  was  about  to  utter  an  exclamation  of 
surprise  and  caution,  but  wisely  judging  that  it  was  a 
crisis  which  ought  to  be  utilized  she  rang  the  bell  for 
the  carriage.  While  it  was  coming  she  kept  Alice 
actively  at  work  in  arraying  herself  so  that  she  might 
make  a  good  appearance.  When  the  carriage  came 
Mrs.  Dupont  could  hardly  suppress  a  smile  as  she  saw 
her  daughter  sweep  majestically  down  the  stairs,  and 
that  unsupported.  The  girl  was  transformed.  A  look 
of  strong  determination  took  the  place  of  her  former 
vacillation.  Their  carriage  swept  up  the  grand  drive 
of  Central  Park.  Every  one  who  knew  the  Duponts 
stared  with  evident  surprise  at  Alice,  who,  in  turn, 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  Il7 

realized  that  gossip  had  already  been  busy.  This  only 
nerved  her  the  more.  Suddenly  Mrs.  Dupont  called  to 
her  driver  to  stop,  at  the  same  time  beckoning  to  a  gen 
tleman  passing  in  another  carriage.  It  was  Dr.  Strong, 
Mortimer's  friend.  "Glad  to  meet  you,  Dr.  Strong," 
said  Mrs.  Dupont,  "  I  know  you  are  well  acquainted 
with  the  best  hotels  in  Austria,  which  one  in  Vienna 
would  you  recommend?" 

Dr.  Strong  was  immensely  flattered,  and  named  a 
few,  but  added,  glancing  at  Alice,  "  If  you  are  taking  a 
trip  for  health,  you  had  better  board  in  some  quiet 
family." 

"We  are  not  going  for  health,  only  for  pleasure," 
responded  Mrs.  Dupont,  "  Alice,  you  know,  used  to  be 
an  invalid,  but  that  is  all  passed  now." 

"  Indeed  !  "  exclaimed  Dr.  Strong,  "  why,  I  am  glad 
to  know  it;  I  heard"  —  and  the  doctor  just  caught 
himself  in  time  not  to  betray  Mortimer's  confidence,  "  I 
heard  that  you  were  going  to  the  German  Spas." 

"  Don't  believe  all  you  hear,"  said  Mrs.  Dupont,  with 
a  significant  look  at  the  doctor,  "  there  are  always  two 
sides  to  a  story;  good  morning,  doctor,  come  and 
see  us  soon,  glad  to  hear  you  are  succeeding  so  well  in 
your  practice ;  we  do  not  expect  to  be  troubled  with 
sickness  again,  since  Alice  has  been  relieved  of  her 
worries,  but  if  we  are  we  may  ring  your  door-bell." 

"Good  gracious!"  thought  Dr.  Strong,  "that  was 
the  most  fortunate  thing  which  ever  happened  to  me 
for  there  right  in  the  midst  of  the  fashion  of  New  York 
City  was  my  doctor's  carriage  stopped  by  Mrs.  Dupont. 
I  noticed  what  an  impression  it  made  on  the  Joneses 


Il8  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

and  Smiths,  when  they  drove  past;  they  will,  of  course, 
think  Mrs.  Dupont  stopped  me  to  consult  about  her 
daughter.  But  how  well  Alice  looks,  what  does 
Mortimer  mean  by  flinging  such  a  beautiful  girl? 
What  lies  he  told  me  about  her  health,  why,  she  looked 
as  blooming  as  a  peach."  And  so  she  did,  for  the 
fresh,  crisp  air  had  painted  Alice's  fair  skin  with  a 
lovely  hue. 

"  Alice,"  said  her  mother,  "  there  could  not  have 
happened  anything  more  fortunate.  Did  you  see  how 
admiringly  and  astonished  Dr.  Strong  gazed  at  you? 
he  has  evidently  heard  one  side  of  the  story,  now  he  is 
converted  to  the  opposite.  All  this  will  go  back  to 
Mortimer,  and  he  will  find  himself  deserted  by  his  very 
friends ;  besides,  there  were  the  Smiths  and  Joneses, 
who  heard  you  laughing  and  talking  with  Dr.  Strong, 
and  saw  how  happy  you  looked.  The  Smiths  and 
Joneses  will  tell  everyone  that  it  is  you  who  flung 
Mortimer.  Now  let  us  go  home,  and  we  will  take  this 
ride  every  day." 

But  "the  wisdom  of  the  serpent"  did  not  stop  here. 
Before  the  carriage  reached  their  home  Mrs.  Dupont 
stopped  at  Tiffany's,  making  the  excuse  of  getting  her 
watch  repaired,  and  while  there  despatched  a  note  to 
Mr.  Dupont.  It  ran  thus :  "  Have  just  had  a  ride 
with  Alice  in  the  park.  She  is  as  happy  and  healthy 
as  a  lark.  Be  sure  to  bring  Mr.  Parks  home  to  dinner 
with  you."  Now,  Mr.  John  Parks  was  a  junior  member 
of  the  firm,  and  a  former  admirer  of  Alice.  Having 
business  to  transact  for  the  firm  in  Europe,  Mr.  Parks 
had  timed  his  voyage  so  as  to  accompany  Mrs.  and 


OR,   THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  119 

Miss  Dupont  on  their  last  European  tour  as  far  as 
London.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dupont  hoped  it  would 
make  a  match  between  the  young  people ;  but,  alas ! 
though  young  Parks,  on  the  first  day  out  lost  his  heart, 
on  the  second  day  Alice  lost  her  dinner,  and  continued 
losing  it  all  the  way  over,  so  that  Cupid  had  no  chance 
of  shooting  his  darts ;  all  the  love  projects  of  Dupont, 
Parks  &  Co.  were  thus  upset  by  unsentimental  Neptune, 
who  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  lovers  included.  All 
the  recollections  Alice  had  of  Mr.  Parks,  was  a  handsome 
young  man  whom  she  did  not  love,  yet  found  to  be  a 
convenient  companion  de  voyage.  However,  when  Mrs. 
Dupont  said  to  her  daugher,  "  I  have  just  received  a 
note  from  your  father,  saying  that  Mr.  Parks  is  to  dine 
with  us  to-day,"  Alice  busied  herself  in  putting  on  her 
best  apparel. 

Mr.  John  Parks  tried  very  hard  to  play  the  agreeable, 
he  had  a  good  fund  of  anecdote  and  repartee,  they  had 
a  merry  time  at  dinner,  and  in  the  evening  Alice  sang 
and  Mr.  Parks  hung  over  her  in  admiration.  As  he 
rose  to  go  he  said,  "  Miss  Dupont,  I  noticed  you  riding 
in  the  Park  to-day." 

"  Did  you?"  said  Alice,  flattered  at  the  thought  that 
she  must  have  attracted  general  attention. 

"  Have  you  lately  tried  horseback  riding?"  asked  Mr. 
Parks. 

"  No,  but  I  am  very  fond  of  it." 

"  Well,  may  I  venture  to  ask  you  to  ride  with  me?" 

Alice  looked  at  her  mother,  who  said,  "  How  kind  of 
you,  Mr.  Parks,  to  propose  it.  Alice  used  to  ride  much 
in  Europe,  but  since  her  return  to  this  country  you  are 


I3O  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

the  first  gentleman  who  has  been  thoughtful  enough  to 
extend  her  this  invitation."  The  invitation  was  ac 
cepted. 

But  this  was  not  all.  Saturday  came,  and  Mrs. 
Dupont  said  to  her  husband,  "  I  want  you  to  go  with 
me  and  Alice  to  church  to-morrow." 

"  Go  to  church  !"  exclaimed  Mr.  Dupont,  "  why,  wife, 
if  you  want  to  go  to  Coney  Island  I  am  ready ;  but  after 
the  fatigues  of  a  business  week  to  have  to  endure  " — 

"  The  fatigue  of  worshipping  God,"  interrupted  Mrs. 
Dupont.  "  Husband,  arn't  you  ashamed  of  yourself? 
I  tell  you  this,  if  you  will  ease  your  body  more  by 
resting  it  in  your  church  pew  you  will  have  a  healthier 
as  well  as  a  happier  family." 

"  How  do  you  make  that  out?"  asked  Mr.  Dupont. 

"  By  the  history  of  our  family  in  the  past.  What  has 
it  been  but  a  record  of  worldly  dissipation,  balls,  dinner 
parties,  theatres,  trips  to  the  seashore,  ostensibly  for  rest, 
but  really  for  a  greater  round  of  pleasure.  Why,  no 
wonder  that  Alice  is  broken  down,  we  must  call  a  halt, 
and  have  a  change.  The  greatest  change  I  can 
conceive  of  is  to  cease  being  fashionable  heathen  and 
become  respectable  Christians." 

"  Why,  wife,  what  has  come  over  you  ?  I  wish  you 
had  only  found  this  out  long  ago,  it  would  have  saved 
me  a  great  deal  of  money,"  said  Mr.  Dupont. 

"  Well,  now  since  I  have  found  it  out,  I  want  you  and 
Alice  to  support  me  in  it ;  you  have  a  pew  in  Dr.  Gos 
peller's  church,  which  you  have  not  entered  for  a  year. 
Let  us  all  be  in  that  pew  to-morrow  morning." 

If  the  Duponts  made  a  sensation  in  Central  Park,  they 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  121 

made  a  greater  one  by  their  appearance  in  church,  for 
who  but  knows  that  a  fashionable  church  is  sometimes 
quite  as  much  a  centre  for  society  gossip  as  are  the 
parlors  of  Fifth  Avenue.  Dr.  Gospeller  preached  that 
morning  on  "  Cast  your  burden  on  the  Lord."  Mr. 
Dupont  heard  very  little  of  it.  He  was  settling  in  his 
mind  whether  he  would  offer  the  next  day  to  buy  some 
stock  of  Mr.  Van  Hilter,  who  sat  in  the  next  pew. 
Mrs.  Dupont  had  a  general  notion  that  it  was  a  good 
sermon,  —  that  she  ought  to  be  a  better  mother  in  her 
spiritual  relations  to  Alice,  and  she  filled  up  the  time 
with  making  good  resolutions.  But  Alice  sat  with  her 
eyes  so  intently  fixed  on  Dr.  Gospeller  as  to  attract 
his  attention.  By  that  peculiar  faculty  of  the  mind, 
which  physiologists,  for  lack  of  a  better  name,  have 
baptized  "  Unconscious  Cerebration,"  while  the  doctor 
was  fervently  delivering  his  sermon,  he  at  the  same  time 
was  considering  the  case  of  his  interested  auditor.  In 
one  of  his  most  effective  passages,  while  the  audience 
was  rivetted  on  the  speaker,  supposing  that  his  atten 
tion  was  rivetted  on  his  discourse,  Dr.  Gospeller  was 
thinking  to  himself,  "  I  wonder  what  has  brought  those 
worldly  Duponts  to  church  again.  Ah !  I  remember 
hearing  their  daughter  has  had  a  love  scrape.  Guess 
the  poor  thing  has  been  driven  by  her  afflictions  to  the 
Lord.  Notice  how  intently  she  is  listening.  I  think  I 
will  call  at  the  Duponts'  to-morrow  and  have  a  talk  with 
Miss  Alice  on  the  subject  of  religion." 

And  what  was  Alice  Dupont  thinking  of,  with  her 
attention  so  rivetted  on  the  doctor's  discourse  that  she 
heard  almost  every  word  of  it,  that  she  took  in  and 


122  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

applied  it  to  her  own  case,  having  her  heart  fairly 
touched  by  its  spiritual  applications?  What  was  she 
thinking  of?  —  Ruth  Page.  That  power  of  association, 
which  starts  a  current  of  thought  by  some  suggestion 
eliminated  from  another  current  and  yet  lets  the  two 
currents  flow  on  side  by  side,  had  started  up  from  the  very 
similarity  of  the  doctor's  theme,  to  themes  dwelt  on  by 
Ruth  in  her  past  conversations  with  Alice,  the  remem 
brance  of  Ruth  herself,  then  naturally  of  Mortimer,  and 
then  of  their  love-quarrel.  Thus  side  by  side  ran  on 
Alice's  meditation  on  the  doctor's  sermon  and  on  Ruth 
and  Mortimer.  Yet,  somehow,  when  the  doctor  con 
cluded  his  last  prayer  with  the  petition  "  that  if  any 
heart  had  come  there  that  morning  with  a  burden,  they 
might  cast  it  on  the  Lord,"  Alice's  mind  converged 
both  lines  of  thought  in  one,  and,  casting  her  burden 
on  the  Lord,  she  left  the  church  strengthened  in  both 
soul  and  body. 


OR,   THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  123 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   FAITH-HEALER  WRESTLES   WITH   OLD   SI. 

Old  Si  was  a  character,  and  a  very  holy  one  too,  — 
like  Enoch,  he  had  walked  with  God.  The  neighbor 
hood  was  full  of  anecdotes  of  the  humble,  sincere  faith 
of  the  old  saint ;  of  how  he  had  dedicated  one-fifth  of 
his  scanty  earnings  to  the  Lord,  and  worn  his  coat  one 
year  longer  than  it  ought  to  have  been  worn,  so  as  to 
give  some  garment  to  the  poor ;  of  how  he  sat  up  late 
at  nights  studying  his  Bible,  and  then  wrestled  with  the 
Lord  in  prayer,  like  Jacob  of  old,  till  the  morning 
broke.  But  now  Si's  faith  was  sorely  tried.  His 
grandson,  aged  five,  the  only  son  of  his  only  son,  "  a 
chile  uv  de  cuv'nant,"  as  Si  called  him,  dedicated  to 
the  Lord  from  his  birth,  for  whom  Si  had  prayed  "  dat 
de  chile  might  be  like  John  de  Baptizer,  filled  wid  de 
Holy  Ghost,"  —  this  child,  so  dear  to  the  old  man,  lay 
very  sick.  Nights  of  prayer  had  been  spent  by  the 
grandfather,  but  the  child  grew  worse.  Si's  faith 
was  sorely  tried,  yet  he  prayed  on,  struggled  on, 
apparently  hoping  against  hope. 

Esther,  in  one  of  her  walks  to  the  camp-meeting 
happened  to  pass  Si's  cottage.  The  door  was  open, 


124  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

and  she  saw  the  figure  of  Si's  wife,  Chloe,  bending  over 
the  bed,  and  heard  her  cry  out  with  a  pathos  of 
entreaty,  "  O,  gud  Lawd,  spar  de  chile,  spar  de  chile." 
The  interest  of  Esther  was  at  once  aroused.  She 
passed  in  the  open  door,  and  said  kindly  to  Chloe,  "  Is 
the  child  sick?" 

Chloe  was  touched  by  the  evident  sympathy  of 
Esther  and  answered,  "  'Es,  Misses,  bery  sick,  I  be's 
'fraid  its  gwine  to  die." 

"  Don't  say  'fraid,  Chloe,"  said  a  voice  from  the 
chimney  corner,  "  remember  what  de  Shoemite  (Shu- 
namite)  wumen  sed  when  her  chile  wus  ded,  '  It  be's 
well  wid  de  chile.'  " 

Esther  started,  and  looking  round  beheld  the  vener 
able  form  of  old  Si.  She  had  often  heard  of  him,  and 
her  interest  was  awakened  to  talk  with  one  who  bore 
such  a  character  for  sanctity.  "  You  are,  I  see,  a  firm 
believer  in  the  wisdom  of  God,"  said  Esther. 

"  'Es,  Missus,"  said  Si,  "  an  so  does  I  b'leeve  in  'Is 
lub ;  I  b'lieve  he  lubs  me  so  strong  dat  he  will  not  act 
to  me  or  to  de  chile  unadvisedly.  Bles'd  be  'Is  grate  an 
'oly  name !  " 

"  But  you  believe  also  that  God  will  be  influenced  by 
our  prayers?  "  said  Esther. 

"Sartinly,  I  have  blessM  prufifs  uv  dat  fact  in  'Is 
dealings  wid  ole  Si  fur  three  score  yars  and  ten." 

"Well,  you  know  the  Bible  says  'Whatsoever  we 
ask  believing  we  shall  receive.'  " 

"  'Es,"  said  Si,  "  I  jes  b'lieve  all  dat." 

"Well,  if  you  then  have  faith  enough  to  believe 
that  God  can  heal  the  child  and  ask  Him  to  heal  it  He 
will  do  so." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  125 

"  Don't  'no  'bout  dat,"  said  Si,  "  de  gud  Book  tells 
us,  Dabid  besot  de  gud  Lawd  fur  'is  chile,  an  Dabid 
farsted  an  went  in  an  lay  all  de  nite  on  de  grund  an 
wrestled  wid  de  Lawd,  yet  de  Lawd  did  not  spar  dat 
chile." 

"Ah,"  said  Esther,  "there  was  a  special  reason  in 
that  case,  the  Lord  had  made  up  His  mind  that  that 
child  must  die." 

"  How  do  me  'no  den  but  de  Lawd  has  sorter  made 
up  'Is  mind  dat  dis  er  chile  mus'  die,  fur,  as  Paul  sez, 
1  Who  hath  known  de  mind  uv  de  Lawd,  or  who  hath 
bin  'Is  coun-seller.'" 

"  But,  my  friend,  how  do  you  know  but  the  Lord  has 
made  up  His*  mind  that  this  child  shall  live,  and 
therefore  you  can  pray  for  it?  " 

"  'Es,  and  me  will  pray  for  it,"  said  Si,  determinedly. 

"  But  you  have  not  been  praying  with  faith  enough," 
said  Esther. 

"  Meh  lady,  dat  all  may  be  troo,  fur  I  'fess  my 
stronges  faith  be's  but  as  a  gran  uv  mustard  seed ;  it 
seems  to  me,  howsomever,  dat  de  faith  I  mos  need  jes 
at  present  be's  dat  which  wud  'nable  ole  Si  to  say,  *  Not 
my  will  but  Thine  be  done.' " 

"  But  it  is  not  the  will  of  God  that  any  sick  ones  should 
die,"  said  Esther,  "  if  we  only  pray  for  their  recovery 
with  faith ;  do  you  not  know  what  the  Apostle  James 
says,  '  The  prayer  of  faith  shall  heal  the  sick? ' ' 

"  'Es,  dat  is  tooly  so,"  said  Si,  but  fixing  a  searching 
glance  on  Esther  he  asked,  "  does  not  you  be's  expectin' 
sum  time  to  die?  " 

Esther  hesitated  and    said,   "Yes,   I   confess   I   do; 


126  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

but  here  is  a  young  child  just  starting  life  who  might 
do  so  much  good  if  he  was  spared  to  grow  up  as  a 
Christian." 

"  Ah,  dat  is  jes  de  rub,"  said  Si,  "  p'r'aps  de  gud 
Marster  sees  it  be  better  fur  de  little  un  to  go  to  heben 
jes  now,  while  it  wud  be  sartin  of  gwine  dar,  than  fur  it 
to  grow  up  an  wander  as  a  prodigal  from  de  Fader's 
home.  Dar  wuz  my  son,  Jeems,  de  fader  uv  dis  chile, 
de  Lawd  taught  ole  Si  a  lesson  on  dis  particler  pint  in 
de  hist'ry  of  dat  son  uv  mine.  When  Jeems  wuz  a 
baby  he  wuz  close  to  deth,  how  we  prayed  den  fur  dat 
chile ;  I  felt  de  Lawd  mus'  spar  him ;  I  pleaded  dat 
bery  varse  you  spoke  uv  'bout  de  pra'r  of  faith  healing 
de  sick.  I  besot  de  Lawd  to  gib  me  dat  faith  as  wud 
move  de  bery  mountins.  Well,  He  answered  my 
pra'r  'zactly  as  me  asked;  but,  my  friend,"  and  Si 
looked  solemnly  at  Esther,  "Jeems  growed  up  an 
wandered  away  from  de  Lawd,  an  I  shud  feel  sorter  uv 
surer  'bout  'is  salvation,  if  de  Lawd  had  had  'Is  own 
way  an  taken  Jeems  den  to  His  blessed  self.  So,  while 
ole  Si  be's  praying  honesly  fur  de  chile's  recuv'ry,  he 
be's  tryin'  to  feel  dat  de  gud  Lawd  knows  de  bes'." 

Esther's  warm  heart  was  touched,  but  she  did  not 
want  her  theory  to  be  so  easily  demolished,  and  she 
said  kindly,  "  Well,  my  friend,  I  do  not  wish  to  shake 
your  resignation  to  God's  will,  but  I  think  if  you  will 
remember  what  great  promises  the  Bible  makes  to  the 
prayer  of  faith,  you  would  find  sufficient  encouragement 
to  pray  for  the  child's  recovery  and  expect  it." 

"  I  have  thot  uv  all  de  many  promises  uv  de  gud  Lawd, 
an  I  intend  to  keep  up  a  heap  uv  prayin',  an  I  wud  be 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  127 

right  glad  ter  have  your  pra'rs  jined  to  mine  fur  de 
chile's  recuv'ry,  an  dat  jes  now." 

"  Well,"  said  Esther  hesitatingly,  "  I  will  willingly 
join  in  prayer  with  you  for  the  child,  but  you  know  the 
Bible  says  '  we  must  anoint  the  sick  before  we  pray  for 
them.' " 

"Be's  you  a  Cat'lick?  "  inquired  Si,  anxiously,  for  he 
had  a  dread  of  the  holy  oil  of  the  Romanists. 

"  Oh,  no,  I  am  a  Protestant.  I  anoint  with  oil 
because  the  Apostle  James  says  we  must  pray  for  the 
sick,  '  anointing  them  with  oil  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord.' " 

"  Dat  be  troo,  but  dat  varse  can't  mean  dat  de 
anointin'  be's  essentialer  to  de  cure,  for  we  neber  read 
uv  de  blessed  Jesus  anointin'  de  sick  wid  ile  before 
he  healed  dem." 

"  Yes,"  answered  Esther,  "  but  he  told  his  disciples 
to  do  so." 

"Whar?"  asked  Si. 

Esther  answered  somewhat  severely,  "  Si,  don't  you 
believe  that  the  Apostle  James  wrote  under  the 
direction  of  the  spirit,  and  that  Jesus  spoke  through 
him?" 

"  Sartinly,  Missus,  but  I'se  only  thought  dat  you 
said  de  Lawd  spoke  it  by  de  word  uv  'Is  own  mouth. 
De  Tostle  Jeems  wuz  an  experienced  'postle,  but  I 
don't  see  how  dat  'postle  could  have  intended  it  as  a 
gin'ral  rule,  fur  de  t'other  'postles  prayed  fur  de  sick  an 
healed  dem  widout  anointin'  dem.  Dar  wuz  Paul  dat 
raised  de  young  man  dat  fell  asleep  under  'is  preachin,' 
and  den  felr  out  uv  de  winder  case.  De  account  don't 


I2S  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

say  nothin*  'bout  Paul's  anointin'  'im  fust  wid  ile.  Dar 
agin  wuz  Pub'lus  (Publius)  who  done  lie  sick  wid  a 
bloody  flux.  De  'postle  prayed  fur  dat  sick  man,  but 
didn't  'noint  'him." 

"  Still,  Si,"  said  Esther,  "  anointing  must  have  been 
common  in  those  days  for  the  Apostle  James  speaks  of 
it  as  a  direction  all  would  understand." 

"  Dat  may  be,"  said  Si,  "  but  many  things  common 
in  days  uv  'postles  are  not  common  now.  De  Acts  uv 
de  'Postles  tells  us  dat  de  sick  wuz  healed  by  de 
shader  uv  Peter  fallin'  on  dem,  guess  even  your  shader, 
Missus,  couldn't  heal  de  sick.  We  be  told,  also,  dat 
hand'chifs  an  apons  took  from  de  body  uv  Paul  wuz 
brought  to  de  sick  an  de  diseases  wuz  taken  straight 
away;  guess  your  hand'chif,  Missus,  wouldn't  help  any 
more  than  your  bottle  uv  ile,  kase  it  be  written,  '  God 
wrot  special  miraculars  by  de  hands  uv  de  'postles ;  ' 
guess  dese  healins  by  hand'chifs,  apons  an  ile,  de  Lawd 
intended  to  be  special  to  dose  days." 

"  But,  Si,  the  apostles  did  heal  the  sick,  and  this 
shows  that  the  sick  can  be  healed  by  God's  people." 

"  'Es,  ma'am,  but  dey  did  not  allers  do,  it." 

"Why,  Si,  what  do  you  mean?" 

"Jes  what  I  asarted,  Missus,  does  not  Paul  say  to 
Timothy,  'Trol'mus  (Trophimus)  have  I  lef  sick  at 
Letum  (Miletum)  ;  '  its  mighty  sartin  dat  Paul  had  to 
leave  Trof  mus  sick ;  he  didn't  heal  'im  wid  'is  prayer 
and  faith." 

"But  there  may  have  been  some  special  reason  in 
Trophimus'  case." 

"  Don't  know  'bout  dat,  only  know  it's  mighty  sartin 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  129 

dat  de  'postle  lef  'is  friend  sick.  Den  dar  wuz 
Pafroditorus  (Epaphroditus)  whom  Paul  says  wuz  his'n 
'panion  in  labor  and  feller  soljur;  he  wuz  nigh  unto 
death,  but  de  Lawd  had  marcy  on  'im." 

"  Ah,"  said  Esther,  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  corner 
Si,  "  does  not  that  show  that  the  Lord  must  have  had 
mercy  on  him  on  account  of  Paul's  prayer  of  faith?  " 

"  Dat  may  be  and  may  not  be,"  said  Si,  "  I  stick  to 
de  record;  it  don't  say  nuthin'  'bout  Paul's  havin' 
anythin'  to  do  wid  Pafroditorus'  recuv'ry,  only  sez  God 
had.  Den  agin  if  de  pra'r  uv  eben  de  'postles  allers 
healed  de  sick,  why  didn't  der  pra'rs  heal  der  own 
diseases?" 

"  Why,  undoubtedly  they  did,"  said  Esther. 

"  Couldn't  be  so  allers,"  said  Si,  "  dar  wuz  dat  thorn 
in  de  flesh  uv  Paul ;  he  couldn't  git  rid  uv  it  though  he 
prayed  an  besot  de  Lawd  hones'ly  three  times." 

"  Yes,  Si,  but  the  Lord  kept  it  there  for  the  apostle's 
spiritual  benefit." 

"Ah,  Missus,"  said  Si,  "dat  is  jes  de  pint;  so  de 
Lawd  keep  dem  thorns  uv  sicknesses  in  'Is  people's 
flesh  for  der  benefit.  Dars  my  ole  wife,  Chloe,  an  a 
godly,  prayin'  woman  she  be's,  but  de  Lawd  has  kept 
a  thorn  uv  rheumatiz  in  her  legs  for  de  las  twenty 
yars." 

"  Ah,  Si,"  said  Esther,  "  you're  a  good  man,  but  I'm 
afraid  you  don't  live  up  to  your  privileges ;  you  forget 
that  the  blessed  Lord  came  to  earth  to  '  bear  our 
sicknesses.'" 

"  Yes,"  said  Si,  "  but  not  alwus  to  take  dem  away, 
fur  ef  I  read  my  Bible  rite,  we'll  have  more  or  less 


130  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

uv  sickness  till  we  departure  dis  life.  I  don't  find  it 
written  dat  dar  will  be  no  more  sick  on  earth.  We  will 
av  to  wait  till  we  he's  come  to  de  bles'd  Emanuel's 
land,  whar  only  de  habitant  shall  say,  I  be's  no  more 
sick ;  and  to  dat  heben  whar  de  Lawd  makes  all  t'ings 
new,  before  we  cum  to  dat  state  whar  dar  be's  no  more 
pain.  I  tank  you  fur  your'n  kindness,  Missus,  but  if 
you  will  plaze  put  dat  little  vial  uv  ile  in  your  pocket 
an  jes  fall  on  your  knees  an  pray  fur  de  Holy  Ghost, 
which  be's  de  only  kind  uv  healin'  ile  we  need,  to  come 
strait  down  into  our  inmust  hearts,  so  that  we  git 
both  faith  in  de  gud  Lawd,  an  s'mission  to  'Is  will,  den 
Missus,  whether  de  chile  'lib  or  die,  we'll  be's  able  to 
say,  as  Jesus  did,  '  Not  my  will  but  thine  be  done.' " 

It  was  some  comfort  to  Esther  and  a  greater  one 
still  to  Si  that  the  baby  was  finally  restored  to  health. 
Esther  could  not  forego  stopping  at  Si's  cottage  a  few 
weeks  after  and  saying,  "  Well,  Si,  the  prayer  of  faith 
has  cured  the  sick,  after  all." 

"  'Es,"  said  Si,  "  Missus,  de  gud  Lawd  has  indeed 
heard  our  feeble  'titions,  but  it  'minds  me  uv  a  sayin'  uv 
my  ole  mudder  'bout  de  babes,  she  says,  *  Sum  babes 
av  to  be  rized  wid  de  bottle,  but  de  way  uv  natur  is  de 
bes  arter  all.'  Now,  it  may  be,  Missus,  dat  sum 
babes  av  to  be  rized  frum  sickness  by  your'n  bottle  uv 
ile,  but  I  tink  de  ole-fashun'd,  nat'ral  way  be's  by 
pra'r  and  s^mission." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

ESTHER  AND  RUTH  MEET.      THE  DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN 
CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND   FAITH-HEALING  VIEWS. 

How  strangely  are  people  brought  together  in  this 
world  !  Ruth  Page  is  a  mind-curer  living  in  New  York, 
Esther  Bates  is  a  faith-healer  attending  a  camp-meeting 
on  the  Hudson.  Neither  has  heard  of  the  other,  neither 
sets  out  to  meet  the  other,  yet,  as  the  stone  carried  by 
the  iceberg  from  polar  regions  meets  sand  swept  out 
from  the  Hudson,  and  both  lie  side  by  side  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Atlantic,  so  two  lives,  starting  from 
different  points,  with  different  aims,  often  come  together 
and  remain  side  by  side  for  life.  By  a  very  simple 
train  of  events  Esther  and  Ruth  were  brought  together. 
Mrs.  Page  had  heard  that  Falkill-on-the-Hudson  was  a 
healthy,  restful  place ;  she  proposed  to  Ruth  to  go 
there  for  the  summer  and  Ruth  acquiesced.  They 
stopped  at  the  village  hotel  to  look  around  for  a  quiet 
boarding-place.  The  landlord  argued  that  the  Pages 
were  pious  folk,  that  pious  folk  liked  good  and  clean 
meals,  and  since  Squire  Hubbard  had  both,  the  Pages 
ought  to  go  to  the  Hubbards.  In  this  logic  the 
Pages  concurred  and  the  Hubbards  recognized  their 


132  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

coming  as  a  special  providence.  Mr.  Mortimer's 
room  had  remained  vacant  since  he  left.  Like  all 
boarding-house  keepers  they  would  have  preferred 
gentlemen,  but  Mrs.  Page  was  so  quiet  and  Miss  Ruth 
so  lovely  that  they  might  be  entertaining  angels 
unawares.  Rubie  soon  made  friends  with  Ruth,  and 
in  his  childish  confidence  told  her  all  about  his 
friend  —  Mortimer,  described  his  many  virtues,  and 
showed  with  triumph  the  presents  Mortimer  had 
given  him. 

The  Hubbards  also  were  full  of  praises  of  Mortimer, 
and  of  hopes  that  Sister  Bates'  influence  had  been 
beneficial  to  his  soul.  Ruth  would  hold  Rubie  in  her 
lap  and  quietly  listen  while  he  told  his  long  story  about 
Mr.  Mortimer.  Mrs.  Page,  however,  as  soon  as  she 
found  Mortimer  had  been  there,  held  a  hurried  consul 
tation  with  Ruth.  She  proposed  to  leave  the  house 
and  neighborhood,  but  Ruth  contended  there  was  no 
probability  of  Mortimer's  returning,  as  he  had  told 
Rubie  he  would  not  for  that  summer  at  least.  Mrs. 
Page  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  Ruth's  reasoning,  but 
letting  the  subject  drop  waited  for  further  developments. 

Esther,  since  Mortimer's  departure,  had  been  a  very 
frequent  visitor  at  the  Hubbards'.  She  had  endeavored 
to  lead  the  old  squire  to  a  higher  faith,  —  to  cast  on 
the  Lord  his  bodily  ailments,  which  in  his  case  were 
frequent  attacks  of  rheumatism.  The  squire,  however, 
proved  a  constant  backslider.  He  would  embrace 
Sister  Bates'  belief  in  dry  weather,  but,  in  wet,  the  squire 
backslid  to  coal  oil  and  old  women's  teas. 

A  few  evenings  after  the  arrival  of  the  Pages,  Esther 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  133 

came  up  the  lane,  with  a  bunch  of  wild  flowers  gathered 
for  Rubie,  singing  her  favorite  hymn, 

"  Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  cross." 

Ruth  was  attracted  by  the  sweet  countenance  and 
voice  of  the  singer,  who,  unconscious  of  her  auditor, 
passing  round  the  side  of  the  house  entered  by  the 
dining-room  door.  Not  rinding  the  Hubbards,  Esther 
was  about  to  leave,  when  Rubie  spying  her,  ran  and 
taking  her  by  the  hand,  dragged  her  to  the  front  porch 
to  see  his  friend,  Miss  Ruth  Page.  Esther,  supposing 
she  was  one  of  the  camp-meeting  folk,  followed  Rubie, 
and  to  her  surprise  found  a  young  lady,  who,  from  her 
dress,  she  set  down  as  "  belonging  to  the  fashionable 
city  folk."  She  was  about  to  retire,  when  Ruth,  who 
at  once  recognized  in  Esther  the  one  she  had  heard  so 
much  of  from  the  Hubbards,  stepped  forward  and  said, 
"  I  suppose  you  are  looking  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hubbard, 
they  have  gone  to  the  lower  part  of  the  farm  to  look  after 
a  sick  lamb  in  their  flock,  will  you  not  rest  a  little 
while  with  me  till  they  return?  " 

Esther  was  attracted  by  the  kind  manner  of  Ruth. 
She  thought,  "  Here  is  one  of  those  fashionable  New 
York  beauties ;  her  heart  is  in  the  world,  I  must  try  to 
do  her  some  good." 

"  You're  a  new  boarder  here,  I  suppose,"  said  Esther. 

"  Yes,  I  came  here  with  my  mother  to  find  a  quiet 
place  in  the  country,  and  God  has  directed  us  to  this 
sweet  Christian  home." 

The  surprise  in  Esther's  honest  face  was  so  evident 
that  Ruth,  thinking  it  indicated  some  doubt  about  that 


134  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

being  a  Christian  home,  said,  as  if  inquiringly,  "  The 
Hubbards  are  of  your  persuasion,  are  they  not?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Esther,  "  but  I  did  not  suppose  you  were 
a  Methodist." 

"  I  am  not,"  said  Ruth,  "  though  I  have  a  great 
respect  for  that  denomination." 

"What  church  do  you  belong  to?" 

"  I  do  not  belong  to  any  church.  At  the  West  we 
attended  the  Congregational  church,  in  Boston  the 
Unitarian,  and  in  New  York  we  did  not  attend  any 
particular  church." 

"  Very  bad  for  the  health  of  your  soul,"  said  Esther, 
"  these  folks  who  are  always  going  from  one  church  to 
another  are  like  rolling  stones,  they  do  not  gather  much 
of  the  gospel  moss." 

"  I  think  you  are  about  right,"  answered  Ruth, 
"judging  from  my  own  experience;  I  have  often 
wished  that  I  had  some  church  connection,  for  there 
are  some  things  in  religion  I  would  like  counsel  about 
from  a  pastor." 

Esther  immediately  became  interested ;  here  was  an 
opportunity  to  do  good.  She  looked  at  the  fair  face 
of  Ruth,  and  thought  of  the  angels,  but  then  with  a 
sigh,  of  the  bad  angels.  "  My  young  frienH,"  she  said; 
"  I  see  you  believe  in  a  God,  do  you  believe  in  a 
Savior?" 

"  Why,  certainly,"  said  Ruth,  "  I  am  devoting  my 
life  to  Christian  Science." 

"  Christian  Science  !  "  exclaimed  Esther,  "  I  thought 
science  was  opposed  to  Christianity." 

"Not  necessarily,"  said  Ruth,  "for  when  the  Bible 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  135 

speaks  of  the  *  oppositions  of  science/  it  says  it  is 
'  science  falsely  so-called.'  " 

"  Why,  you  seem  to  have  read  the  Bible,"  said  Esther. 

"  Yes,"  answered  Ruth,  with  a  smile,  "  and  studied 
it;  it  is  in  the  Bible  that  I  learn  of  the  Great  Physician, 
to  whom  I  am  trying  to  }ead  others  for  tlie  healing  of 
their  bodies." 

"Why,  you  can't  mean  that  you're  a  faith-healer 
like  myself,"  said  Esther,  completely  bewildered. 

"  No,"  said  Ruth,  (i  I  practise  what  is  commonly 
known  as  the  mind-cure,  though  this  is  not  the  right 
name  for  our  science." 

The  mention  of  the  "  mind-cure"  brought  up  at 
once  to  Esther's  mind  the  idea  of  his  majesty  who  is 
represented  with  hoofs  and  horns.  She  had  heard 
at  the  camp-meeting  of  this  new  doctrine  that  had 
appeared  in  New  York,  and  which  was  regarded  by 
many  of  the  sisters  as  a  snare  and  delusion  of  the  devil. 
Some  of  said  sisters  had  special  cause  for  disliking  it ; 
as  it  had  lost  them  many  of  their  converts,  who  professed 
to  find  this  Abana  and  Pharpar  of  Christian  Science 
better  than  the  Jordan  of  the  faith-curers. 

Esther  was  about  to  depart  and  shake  the  dust  from 
off  her  feet  against  Ruth,  when  the  latter  gently 
detained  her.  "  Don't  go  yet,"  she  said,  "  I  want  you 
to  talk  longer  with  me.  I  believe  you  can  do  me 
good."  The  fact  was,  Ruth's  heart  was  longing  for 
just  such  a  friend  as  Esther;  that  good,  motherly  heart, 
that  strong  purpose  to  do  her  duty  which  characterized 
Esther  Bates  seemed  to  be  the  prop  which  Ruth  needed 
for  her  own  soul's  support.  So  Ruth  determined  to 


136  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

make  friends  with  the  faith-healer,  in  spite  of  the 
latter's  seeming  repugnance.  Moving  her  seat  nearer 
Esther,  and  taking  her  hand  in  her  own,  she  said,  "  My 
friend,  I  believe  there  are  a  great  many  things  about 
which  we  believe  alike,  perhaps  there  are  others  you 
can  instruct  me  in,  let  us  be  friends,  I  do  need  a  good, 
Christian  friend." 

Esther's  kind  heart  could  not  resist  the  appeal.  "  My 
dear  child,"  said  she,  grasping  Ruth's  hand,  "  I  do  want 
to  be  a  friend  to  all  mankind,  especially  to  those  to 
whom  I  can  do  good ;  but,  speaking  plainly,  I  fear  you 
have  never  been  converted." 

"  Well,  then,  help  convert  me  now,"  said  Ruth,  "  but 
first  let  me  tell  you  what  I  am  already  converted  to. 
I  believe  in  God  as  the  good,  heavenly  Father,  and  in 
Jesus  Christ  His  Son  as  the  Savior  both  for  the  soul 
and  body;  I  believe  in  living  a  good  life  and  thus 
at  last  dying  a  happy  death  and  going  to  heaven." 

"Why,  do  you  believe  all  that?  "  said  Esther. 

"  Yes,"  said  Ruth,  "  and  therefore  I  am  trying  to 
lead  people  to  go  to  God  for  the  healing  of  their 
bodies." 

"  Why,  then,  do  you  call  it  mind-cure,  and  not  as  we 
do,  faith-healing?" 

"Because  we  believe  that  faith  is  a  quality  of  the 
mind." 

"  Of  the  mind !  "  said  Esther,  "why,  daughter,  faith 
comes  from  the  heart ;  does  not  the  Bible  say,  '  With 
the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness? '  don't  you 
believe,  daughter,  that  all  men  need  converting  in  their 
hearts?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Ruth,  "  converting  to  the  truth." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  l$J 

Esther  was  puzzled.  The  distinctions  of  the  mind- 
curer  were  too  metaphysical  for  her  understanding. 
"  Tell  me,  then,  plainly,"  said  she,  "  do  you  believe  in 
revivals  of  religion,  where  people  are  converted  by  the 
Holy  Ghost?" 

"  I  believe  there's  a  psychological  phenomena  in 
revivals.  The  penitent  comes  into  the  idea  or  belief 
that  he  is  condemned  of  God,  and  is  burdened  with  the 
sense  of  guilt  which  is  called  conviction.  He  is  now 
willing  and  desirous  to  be  saved,  and  is  taught  to 
believe  that  he  is  to  think  or  imagine  that  God  now 
forgives  or  saves  him."  * 

"  It  is  then,  after  all,  an  impression  made  on  his 
heart"  said  Esther. 

"  Well,  call  it  either  mind  or  heart,"  answered  Ruth, 
"  I  am  willing  to  admit  that  God  uses  this  impression 
for  conversion ;  indeed,  I  have  seen  men  thus  impressed. 

"  Still,  it  seems  to  me,"  said  Esther,  "  that  there's  a 
very  wide  difference  between  our  views  on  this  subject. 
You  regard  this  whole  matter  of  conversion  as  a  sort 
of — what  is  that  big  name  you  called  it  by?" 

"  Psychological  phenomena,"  answered  Ruth. 

"  Yes,"  said  Esther,  "  but  you  thus  mean  to  explain 
it  on  natural  laws." 

"Oh,  no,"  said  Ruth,  "we  believe  in  faith.  Read 
our  best  writers  and  you  will  see  they  exalt  faith  as 
much  as  Jesus  did.  We  believe  with  you  '  all  things 
are  possible  to  him  that  believeth.' " 

"  Yes,  but  you  do  not  recognize  the  Holy  Ghost  as 
the  producer  of  that  faith,"  said  Esther. 

*  Evan's  Divine  Law  of  Cure,  page  215. 


138  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"  That  depends,"  answered  Ruth.  "  Some  of  our 
Christian  Scientists  recognize  the  Holy  Ghost  as  a 
divine  being,  others  as  a  divine  influence." 

"Well,  which  view  do  you  hold?"  asked  Esther. 

"  I  have  not,"  answered  Ruth,  "  paid  enough  attention 
to  this  point  to  decide  it.  My  study  of  the  Bible  has 
rather  centred  my  mind  on  God  as  the  Father  of  us  all, 
and  in  His  fatherly  love  I  find  the  encouragement  and 
aid  for  my  work." 

"  But,"  said  Esther,  "  the  highest  display  of  God's 
love  is  His  so  loving  the  world  as  to  give  His  only 
begotten  Son  as  a  propitiation  for  our  sins." 

"  True,"  answered  Ruth,  "  but  it  is  rather  to  Christ 
as  the  Great  Physician  that  my  thoughts  go  out." 

"Ah  !  my  daughter,"  said  Esther,  solemnly,  "where 
there  is  need  of  a  physician  there  is  some  disease  to 
cure." 

"  Yes,  and  do  we  not  exalt  Jesus  as  a  curer  of  disease 
through  the  mind?"  replied  Ruth.  "Is  not  our  very 
science  named  Christian  Science?" 

"  But,"  said  Esther,  there  is  a  worse  disease  than 
that  of  the  body  —  the  disease  of  the  soul,  which  I  call 
by  the  plain  name  of  sin ;  have  you  never,  my  daughter, 
realized  that  by  nature  you  are  a  sinner?" 

"  I  cannot  say  that  I  have,"  answered  Ruth,  "  except 
when  I  felt  sick ;  then  I  tried  to  realize  that  all  disease 
is  an  error,  and  I  blamed  myself  for  entertaining  this 
error  as  being  a  sin  on  my  part." 

"What  would  you  do,  then,"  asked  Esther,  "with 
those  cases  in  the  Bible  of  whom  Christ  said,  l  Ye  shall 
die  in  your  sins?'  " 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  139 

"  I  should  ascribe,  as  He  does,  their  state  to  sin,  and 
their  sin  to  spring  from  an  error,  namely,  that  there  is 
a  profit  in  sin.  Is  this  not  so  especially  with  all  classes 
of  vice?  Does  not  the  drunkard  drink  because  of  the 
erroneous  impression  that  drink  makes  him  happy,  the 
gambler  gambles  with  the  error  that  cards  or  dice 
afford  him  gain?  " 

Esther  looked  pained.  "  My  daughter,"  she  said,  "  I 
am  not  able  to  argue  with  you,  for  you  are  a  much 
better  educated  person  than  I,  but  I  think  you  will  find 
God's  word  teaches  a  very  different  idea  of  sin  than  you 
hold,  and  that  the  experience  of  mankind  endorses 
God's  view  of  sin." 

"Well,  what  is  that  view?"  asked  Ruth.  "  I  really 
do  want  to  believe  as  God  wants  me  to." 

Esther  answered,  "  It  seems  to  me  that  both  the 
Bible  and  human  experience  teach  that  the  root  of  sin 
is  in  the  hatred  of  the  heart  against  God  and  His  holy 
law,  also  in  the  love  of  what  is  evil.  You  know  what 
Christ  said  to  Nicodemus,  'Ye  must  be  born  again.' 
A  man  must  have  a  new  heart  before  he  can  live  a  new 
life." 

"Ah,  yes,"  said  Ruth,  "and  we  believe  that  truth 
can  give  him  that  new  heart ;  you  know  what  Christ 
says,  '  Ye  shall  know  the  truth  and  the  truth  shall  make 
you  free." 

"Yes,"  answered  Esther,  "but  the  heart  must  be 
prepared  for  the  reception  of  that  truth  as  the  ground 
is  for  the  seed." 

Ruth  answered,  "  I  don't  think  that  we  are  as  far 
apart  as  you  suppose,  for  many  of  our  writers  hold  that 


140  RUTH,   THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

sin  is  a  moral  evil  or  disorder,  but  we  do  hold  that 
Jesus  introduced  into  this  world  a  cure  for  all  evils  or 
disorders." 

"  I  agree  with  you  there,"  said  Esther,  "  for  that  is 
the  creed  of  the  faith-healers.  But  I  ask  you  to  think 
of  this,  all  men  do  not  come  to  Christ  for  the  cure  of 
their  bodies,  nor  for  the  cure  of  their  souls ;  now,  the 
heart  that  will  not  come  to  Christ  must  be  as  the  Bible 
states  '  at  enmity  against  God.'  The  sinner  loves  sin, 
rolls  it  as  a  sweet  morsel  under  his  tongue ;  he  must, 
then,  need  a  change  of  his  nature  before  he  can  become 
a  good  man.  I  think,  my  young  friend,  if  you  will 
reflect  on  this,  you  will  see  that  something  more  is 
needed  than  a  mental  influence  to  make  a  man  good." 

"  But,"  said  Ruth,  "  by  *  mental  influence  '  we  mean 
the  power  of  the  divine  mind  which  must  change  man's 
heart,  his  appetites,  his  aims,  —  " 

"  Yes,"  interrupted  Esther,  "  man  must  be  made  all 
over  again ;  he  then  becomes  what  the  Bible  terms,  '  a 
new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus ;  '  yea,  he  needs  in  effecting 
this  a  provision  for  the  guilt  of  his  past  sins." 

"  Oh,  that  is  supplied,"  said  Ruth,  "  by  his  abandoning 
those  sins  and  leading  a  better  life." 

Esther  looked  searchingly  at  Ruth  and  asked,  "  Would 
the  judge  remit  the  guilt  of  the  murderer's  sin  because 
he  promised  to  stop  murdering  his  fellow  men  and  lead 
a  better  life?  Would  not  punishment  for  his  past  sin 
be  still  meted  out  to  him?  " 

"  Certainly,"  said  Ruth,  "  in  that  case  it  would  be  so, 
because  murder  is  an  awful  crime." 

"  But,"  said   Esther,  "  is  it  not  an  awful  crime  to 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  141 

disobey  the  commands  of   a  good   and  holy  God?" 

"  True,"  answered  Ruth,  thoughtfully. 

"  What,  then,"  continued  Esther,  "  must  the  sinner 
do?  not  only  get  his  mind  in  a  better  state,  as  you 
would  say,  but  he  needs  an  atonement  for  his  sins,  and 
he  must  avail  himself  of  that  atonement." 

"Then,"  said  Ruth,  now  deeply  interested,  "as  I 
understand  you,  he  is  to  go  to  Christ  as  the  Great 
Physician  to  heal  him  of  his  sin." 

"  Yes,"  answered  Esther,  "  but  also  to  have  the  guilt 
of  those  sins  atoned  for,  and  to  receive  the  regeneration 
of  the  Holy  Spirit."  * 

Ruth  had  drawn  nearer  to  Esther,  and  as  she  con 
cluded  her  little  sermon,  Ruth  put  her  arms  around  her 
neck  and  said,  "Sister  Esther  —  may  I  not  call  you 
such  —  you  are  the  very  friend  I  would  like  to  have ;  I 
think  when  you  understand  my  views,  you  will  find  in 
many  points  we  agree,  will  you  be  my  friend  and 
help  me  know  Christ  better?" 

Esther's  warm  heart  was  touched,  and  she  responded, 
"  Ruth,  I  do  like  you,  and  I  want  to  be  your  friend." 
And  from  that  hour  the  heart  of  Ruth  clave  to  Esther 
as  the  heart  of  Jonathan  to  David. 

*  For  further  differences  between  "Christian  Science"  and  "Healing  by 
Faith,"  see  Chap.  IX,  "Ruth's  Lecture." 


142  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ESTHER'S   SUSPICIONS   AROUSED    ABOUT   MRS.   PAGE, 
WITH  A  TERRIBLE  DENOUEMENT. 

Who  can  explain  the  magnetism  of  some  persons 
which  attracts  others  to  them,  as  the  magnet  does  the 
iron?  —  this,  however,  is  an  illustration,  not  an  explan 
ation.  Persons  possess  magnetism  who  have  neither 
goodness,  beauty,  nor  intellect.  There,  for  example,  is 
that  good  man,  Mr.  Lawful ;  you  believe  him  to  be  a 
saint,  yet  he  does  not  attract  you  half  as  much  as  that 
worthless  scapegrace,  Tom  Lawless.  You  would  like 
to  give  Tom  a  good  shaking  for  his  deviltries ;  indeed, 
you  resolve  to  give  him  the  downright  cut  when  you 
next  meet;  but  Tom  comes  to  you  holding  out  his 
hand,  and  out  goes  your  heart.  There  are  people  you 
cannot  help  liking  in  spite  of  their  many  faults ;  others 
who  have  no  personal  magnetism,  notwithstanding  their 
many  virtues.  You  may  wonder  at  Beauty  marrying 
the  Beast,  but  somehow  the  Beast  had  a  personal 
magnetism  for  Beauty.  Who  can  analyze  this  subtile 
attractive  influence  which  goes  out  from  some  persons. 

The  Christian  Scientists  denounce  any  attempts  to 
exert  influence  over  others  by  what  is  called  animal 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  143 

magnetism.  Neither  do  they  believe  in  personal  contact 
such  as  laying  hands  on  persons.  Let  their  views  in 
this  respect  have  the  credit  they  deserve  of  tending  to 
morality,  which  cannot  be  said  of  all  the  other  isms  of 
the  present  day. 

Now  there  are  some  things  in  the  theory  of  the 
mind-curer,  as  to  mental  and  moral  influence,  with 
which  we  can  all  agree.  To  the  fundamental  principle 
that  the  mind  of  man  has  power  over  other  minds  we 
heartily  say  amen;  but  they  also  claim  that  God, 
behind  the  mind  of  A  and  acting  through  it,  will 
influence  the  mind  of  B,  so  as  to  cast  out  disease,  —  to 
which  we  are  partly  converted,  but  not  wholly.  In  the 
view  of  the  author,  it  makes  a  great  difference  what  the 
disease  is ;  be  it  a  bad  case  of  colic,  caused  by  acidity 
of  the  stomach,  the  branch  to  be  thrown  into  this  bitter 
Marah  is  not  the  mind  of  another,  but  a  good  antacid. 
Magnesia  in  this  case  would  be  more  potent  than 
prayers  or  mental  influence,  because  the  antacid  is 
God's  provision  for  neutralizing  the  acid ;  the  same 
remark  applies  to  many  other  diseases,  for  which  God 
has  provided  healing  medicines.  But  is  there  not  a 
class  of  cases,  perhaps  the  largest,  in  which  physical 
disorders  are  connected  with  mental  states  ?  What  do 
you  propose  to  put  back  of  these  mentally  connected 
diseases?  The  materialistic  physician  points  to  the 
apothecary's  shop,  the  Christian  Scientist  to  God.  He 
claims  that  a  man  full  of  God  and  truth  can  influence 
that  mind,  and  through  it  that  body  for  its  healing. 
Well,  why  not  let  us  all  say  amen,  for  though  some 
may  have  made  fools  of  themselves  by  the  applications 


144  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

they  have  given  to  this  truth,  the  truth  remains.  The 
mind-curer  is  also  right  in  asserting  that  the  whole 
tendency  of  medical  science  has  been  towards  material 
ism.  Allopathy  and  homoeopathy  virtually  hold  that 
the  body  is  matter  and  must  be  cured  by  matter.  Is  it 
not  time  to  call  a  halt,  and  inquire  whether  God  cannot 
use  something  besides  matter  to  cure?  Has  God  so 
utterly  handed  over  the  healing  art  to  M.  D.'s  that  no 
room  is  left  for  prayer  to  the  great  I  AM  ?  The  savage 
always  invokes  the  Great  Spirit  before  attempting  the 
healing  of  the  body.  According  to  *  Eber,  the  ancient 
Egyptians  always  repeated  pious  maxims  while  com 
pounding  and  administering  medicines.  Thus  is  it  with 
the  savage  and  the  heathen,  —  how  is  it  to-day  with 
the  civilized  and  the  Christian?  More  honored,  we 
fear,  in  its  breach  than  in  its  practise.  If  mind-cureism 
will  refresh  our  minds  with  the  fact  that  there  is  a 
divine  influence,  let  us  therein  rejoice. 

But  to  the  case  in  question,  —  the  influence  of  one 
person  over  another.  Here  were  two  women,  one 
young,  the  other  old ;  each  having  theories  of  their 
own ;  neither  possessing  any  points  of  mutual  attraction ; 
yet  insensibly  Esther  was  dominated  by  Ruth.  Ac 
cording  to  the  law  of  gravitation,  the  larger  body 
attracts  the  smaller,  in  this  case  it  was  the  reverse, — 
little  Ruth  attracted  Esther.  Yet  the  babe  Moses 
attracted  the  Princess  of  Egypt;  and  when  another 
babe  slept  in  Bethlehem's  manger  He  drew  to  Him 
even  wise  men  from  the  East.  Anyway,  however  you 
may  explain  it,  Ruth  was  an  irresistible  attraction  to 

*  Preface  to  fifth  edition  of"  Egyptian  Princess." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  145 

Esther.  Esther  would  go  to  the  camp-meeting  and 
pray  "  that  God  would  keep  her  heart  from  going  out 
too  much  to  that  dear  but  misguided  girl,  until  she  was 
soundly  converted ;  "  but  then  next  morning,  Esther 
would  go  back  to  said  misguided  girl,  and  spend  a 
whole  day  by  her  side.  Only  occasionally  Mrs.  Page 
appeared.  Once  or  twice  Esther  met  her  walking  to 
the  village. 

One  day,  while  Esther  was  taking  her  customary 
morning  walk  to  the  Hubbards',  she  met  Ruth  watching 
for  her  at  the  outskirts  of  a  thick  wood.  Ruth's  usually 
placid  face  was  much  disturbed.  "  Esther,"  she 
abruptly  began,  "  I  came  to  meet  you  so  that  we  can 
talk  together  about  my  mother.  I  scarcely  know 
how  to  commence,  for  I'm  afraid  of  giving  you  a 
wrong  impression ;  she  is  a  dear,  loving  mother,  and  is 
always  planning  how  to  please  me ;  indeed,  I  fear  she 
has  indulged  me  so  much  that  I  cannot  bear  to  be 
disappointed." 

"Well,  what  is  the  disappointment  this  time?  "  asked 
Esther. 

"  I  want  to  remain  here  all  summer,  but  my  mother 
wants  me  to  leave  immediately." 

"To  leave  here?"  exclaimed  Esther,  "why,  Ruth, 
why  should  you?  You  cannot  find  a  healthier,  sweeter 
spot  on  earth."  And  then  with  a  sigh  she  added, 
"  How  can  I  do  without  you  ?  " 

"  I  must  confess,"  said  Ruth,  "  that  my  mother  for 
the  first  time  in  her  life  seems  to  act  unreasonably 
toward  me." 

"  But  she  must  have  some  reason,"  said  Esther,  "  is 


l46  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

she  dissatisfied   with  the    Hubbards  or  their  table?" 

"  No,"  answered  Ruth,  "  she  likes  both.  The  true 
reason,  at  least  the  one  I  suspect,  is  so  involved  in 
mystery  that  I  hesitate  to  mention  it,  but  I  must  tell 
you  my  suspicions,  so  that  you  can  advise  me.  I 
suspect  it  is  all  about  Mr.  Mortimer." 

"  About  Mr.  Mortimer !  "  exclaimed  Esther,  "  what 
Mr.  Mortimer?" 

"  That  William  Mortimer  who  stayed  at  the  Hub- 
bards',  you  must  know  him,  for  the  Hubbards  say  he 
met  you  while  here." 

"Do  you  also  know  William  Mortimer?"  exclaimed 
Esther. 

"  Yes,  but  very  slightly."  And  then  Ruth  detailed 
how  he  came  for  her  to  attend  a  lady  to  whom  he  was 
engaged,  and  how  Mrs.  Page  tried  to  prevent  her  from 
seeing  him  again. 

"  What  was  the  cause  of  your  mother's  objection  to 
your  acquaintance  with  William  Mortimer?  " 

"  That  is  just  the  mystery,"  answered  Ruth.  "  Mother 
put  it  on  the  ground  of  the  impropriety  of  my  receiving 
young  men  at  our  house;  but  I  did  not  receive  him  as 
a  friend;  indeed,  I  never  expect  to  meet  him  again, 
and  why  mother  is  so  worried  about  this  Mr.  Mortimer 
I  cannot  imagine."  Ruth  spoke  all  this  in  her  artless 
manner,  but  Esther  found  herself  strongly  moved.  Is 
it  not  strange  how  suspicions  sometimes  arise  in  one's 
mind,  often  apparently  unconnected  with  any  reason 
for  them;  you  feel  things  sometimes,  they  seem  to 
proceed  from  something  else  than  your  reasoning 
powers  ? 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  147 

"  Ruth,"  said  Esther,  "  are  you  sure  that  you  have 
never  seen  or  heard  of  Mr.  Mortimer  before?  " 

"  Perfectly  sure,"  said  Ruth.  "  I  never  remember 
even  hearing  of  him." 

"  Or  of  the  name?  "  inquired  Esther. 

Ruth  waited  and  pondered.  At  last  she  said,  "  Your 
question  brings  up  an  incident  in  my  childhood  that  I 
had  entirely  forgotten.  I  once  found  a  book  in  my 
mother's  library.  On  the  title-page  was  written  the 
name  —  Eugene  Mortimer;  my  mother  gave  me  a  hard 
scolding  for  taking  that  book  from  the  library,  for  she 
said  it  did  not  belong  to  us." 

"Ruth,"  said  Esther,  "when  did  your  father  die?" 

"  When  I  was  a  babe,"  answered  Ruth. 

"  How  old  are  you  now?  " 

"  I  am  just  twenty-six." 

Esther  sat  and  pondered  a  long  time.  At  last  she 
asked,  "  Ruth,  where  were  you  born?  " 

"  Well,  now,"  said  Ruth,  laughing,  "  I  must  have 
been  born  in  two  places.  I  always  supposed  that  San 
Francisco  was  my  birthplace ;  that  was  the  impression 
I  got  from  my  mother.  But  lately  I  happened  to  find 
an  old  Bible,  and  in  it  was  written,  '  Ruth  M.  Page, 
born  in  Chicago.'  I  asked  mother  about  it,  and  she 
said  that  she  was  passing  through  Chicago  for  San 
Francisco  at  the  time  of  my  birth.  I  asked  her  what 
the  M.  in  my  name  stood  for,  and  she  said  there  was  a 
relative,  then  living  but  now  dead,  whom  she  named 
me  after,  but  that  he  turned  out  to  be  so  bad  a  man 
that  she  dropped  his  name  from  mine.  Indeed,  she 
asked  me  never  to  mention  the  subject  again,  as  it 


148  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

would  be  a  lifelong  worry  to  me  to  know  that  I  had 
ever  borne  his  name." 

Esther  began  to  fairly  tremble,  for  the  suspicions 
which  had  been  aroused  in  her  mind  were  deepened  by 
Ruth's  words ;  but,  containing  herself,  she  asked  care 
lessly,  "  Ruth,  how  came  you  to  be  living  in  New 
York?" 

Ruth  answered,  "  When  I  finished  my  education  in 
San  Francisco,  which,  thanks  to  the  liberality  of  my 
mother,  was  a  very  thorough  one,  I  met  a  lady  from 
Boston  who  gave  me  such  an  interesting  account  of 
Christian  Science  and  the  wonders  it  had  wrought  that 
I  induced  mother  to  go  to  Boston  and  let  me  take  a 
full  course  therein.  After  spending  two  winters,  I 
formed  the  purpose  of  devoting  my  life  to  healing  the 
sick.  I  did  not  want  to  attempt  it  where  I  was  known, 
because,  you  know,  Esther,  Christ  said,  '  A  prophet  is 
not  without  honor  except  in  his  own  country,'  so  I 
urged  mother  to  let  me  practise  my  healing  art  in  New 
York  City.  I  had  heard  of  the  great  success  of  other 
Christian  Scientists  there.  Mother  seemed  very  un 
willing  to  go  to  New  York,  but  I  teased  her  so  much 
that  she  finally  agreed  to  let  me  try  just  one  winter 
there  and  then  return  to  San  Francisco.  Mother  has 
never  been  well  since  we  went  to  New  York;  she 
keeps  herself  so  secluded  that  it  is  wearing  on  her 
health.  I  think  she  would  never  have  thought  of  Mr. 
Mortimer  had  it  not  been  for  the  excitable  state  she 
has  got  into,  this  is  getting  worse  every  day,  and  I 
begin  to  fear  for  her  reason." 

"  Ruth,  one  question  more,  I  do  not  want  to  pry  into 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  149 

your  private  matters,  but  for  a  certain  reason  I  would 
like  to  know  whether  you  are  comfortably  off?  " 

"  Perfectly  so,"  said  Ruth.  "  My  mother  invested  the 
money  my  father  left  her  in  San  Francisco,  and  it 
rolled  over ;  I  suppose  mother  is  worth  about  $75,000." 
All  this  was  told  in  so  artless  a  manner  that  Esther  saw 
not  a  shadow  of  suspicion,  about  her  mother,  rested  in 
Ruth's  mind. 

"  Well,  now,"  said  Esther,  "  since  you  have  mentioned 
the  name  of  Mr.  Mortimer,  I  will  tell  you  how  I  came 
to  know  him."  She  then  related  to  Ruth  how  Mortimer 
had  sought  her  out,  hoping  to  find  something  about  the 
$50,000  paid  to  his  father's  first  wife ;  also  about  the 
mystery  of  that  father's  divorce.  While  Esther  was 
telling  the  story  she  watched  Ruth  narrowly,  but  though 
Ruth  appeared  very  much  interested,  she  evidently  had 
not  the  slightest  suspicion  that  Esther  thought  she  was 
somehow  connected  with  that  story.  At  last  in  despair 
of  thus  getting  a  clew,  Esther  said,  "  Ruth,  you  have 
studied  the  mind  more  than  I,  and  are  far  better 
educated ;  do  you  think  that  God  ever  puts  into  the 
mind  impressions  without  affording  facts  to  refer  them 
to?" 

"  I  don't  exactly  understand  you,"  said  Ruth. 

"  Well,  what  I  mean  is  this ;  suppose  I  should  have 
a  strong  impression  made  on  my  mind  that  certain 
things  had  occurred  which  ought  to  be  brought  to  light 
for  the  good  of  certain  parties,  and  yet  had  not  a 
single  proof  on  which  to  establish  my  impression ; 
what  ought  I  to  do  about  it,  let  it  drop  or  pursue  it?  " 

"That,  of  course,  would  depend  on  a  great  many 


150  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

circumstances,"  said  Ruth.  "  One  thing,  however,  I 
am  fully  convinced  of;  that  is,  that  God  often  gives  to 
the  mind  impressions  before  he  furnishes  a  single  fact 
to  establish  them.  God  has  so  made  the  body  that 
certain  of  its  vital  functions  are  performed  without  any 
conscious  effort  on  our  part ;  thus  the  heart  beats,  the 
lungs  inhale  and  exhale,  the  stomach  digests  its  food. 
So  also  there  seems  to  be  in  the  mind  powers  which 
act  independently  of  our  own  volition ;  the  physiologists 
term  this  '  unconscious  cerebration/  but  this  expresses 
the  effect,  not  the  cause.  Now,  Esther,  I  cannot  see 
why  God  should  not  by  a  simple  impression  on  the 
mind  direct  us  as  to  our  duty;  indeed,  there  sometimes 
seems  to  be  in  man  a  sort  of  divine  intuition  which 
leads  him  to  right  conclusions,  as  the  instinct  of  an 
animal  guides  it  to  proper  actions.  I  love,"  continued 
Ruth,  "  to  think  of  God's  control  over  me  as  utilizing 
something  more  than  my  natural  faculties ;  that  He  can 
through  His  Spirit  develop  new  faculties  to  meet 
special  emergencies  of  my  being.  Hence,  if  an  emer 
gency  should  arise  where  I  found  an  impression  on  my 
mind  that  certain  things  had  important  relations  to 
myself  or  others,  I  should  carefully  weigh  that  im 
pression  as  a  possible  guide  to  my  duty." 

"  You  could  not  have  expressed  better,"  said  Esther, 
"  the  answer  I  needed  to  my  inquiry.  I  have,  Ruth, 
an  impression  about  you.  If  you  should  ask  me  why, 
I  might  not  furnish  what  might  seem  a  valid  reason ;  if 
you  ask  for  facts,  I  cannot  produce  a  single  one,  unless 
it  be  my  inference  from  the  facts  you  have  just  stated." 

"  Well,  tell  me  frankly  what  that  impression  is,"  said 
Ruth. 


OR,    THE    NEW    IIYGEIA.  151 

"  Are  you  willing  to  hear  it?  if  so,  calm  yourself,  for 
it  may  startle  you." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Ruth,  laughingly,  "  nothing  you 
could  say  would  startle  me,  I  have  such  confidence  in 
you,  Esther." 

Esther  paused,  and,  shading  her  eyes  with  her  hand 
as  if  in  prayerful  meditation,  waited  for  a  moment  and 
then  said,  with  suppressed  emotion,  "  Ruth  Page,  I  have 
an  impression  that  your  right  name  is  Ruth  Mortimer, 
and  that  you  are  the  half-sister  of  William  Mortimer." 

"  Of  William  Mortimer  !  "  shrieked  out  Ruth,  starting 
to  her  feet  and  quivering  in  every  limb,  "  why,  Esther 
Bates,  are  you  crazy?" 

"  Perhaps  I  am,"  said  Esther,  "  but  according  to 
your  own  reasoning  we  should  not  scorn  impressions." 

"  Tell  me,  then,  right  off,  where  you  got  that  im 
pression,"  said  Ruth. 

"  That  is  the  remarkable  thing  about  it,"  answered 
Esther.  "  It  has  been  in  my  mind  some  time,  even 
before  you  mentioned  the  facts  which  you  have  just 
stated,  and  which  would  seem  only  to  confirm  it.  I 
had  prayed  over  this  matter  of  William  Mortimer's 
sometime  before  I  met  you ;  but  somehow,  at  our  first 
meeting,  an  impression  came  to  my  mind  that  the  Lord 
sent  you  here  to  aid  me  in  finding  out  this  mystery 
connected  with  William  Mortimer." 

"  What  would  I  give,"  said  Ruth,  "  if  your  impressions 
could  only  be  turned  into  realities ;  but,  Esther,  we  are 
treading  on  very  dangerous  ground,  let  us  try  to 
dismiss  this  subject ;  indeed,  I  wish  you  had  not  spoken 
to  me  about  it ;  it  seems  to  reflect  on  my  mother,  and 


152  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

I  cannot  believe  my  mother  would  have  kept  her 
daughter  in  ignorance  of  such  a  fact." 

Esther  began  to  see  she  had  gone  too  far.  Her 
inherent  sense  of  right  chided  her  for  doing  anything 
that  would  weaken  a  daughter's  confidence  in  her 
mother;  she  said  to  Ruth,  "You  are  right,  let  us  try  to 
drop  this  matter." 

Ruth  tried  to  do  so,  but  in  vain.  It  began  to  work 
on  her  mind.  She  could  not  drive  it  from  her  thoughts, 
it  followed  her  in  her  waking  and  sleeping  hours.  At 
last  she  went  to  Esther  and  said,  "  You  must  have  a 
talk  with  mother  over  this  matter ;  I  cannot  drive  out 
of  my  mind  the  suspicions  you  have  awakened,  and 
since  you  started  them,  it  is  due  that  you  should  strive 
to  have  them  removed." 

So  Esther  went  to  talk  with  Mrs.  Page.  Esther  was 
a  poor  person  to  manage  such  an  affair,  she  was  too 
honest,  she  could  not  for  the  life  of  her  approach  a 
subject  by  tortuous  ways ;  when,  therefore,  she  went  to 
Mrs.  Page,  she  told  her  right  out  all  her  suspicions. 
"  I  had  rather,  madam,  be  honest  with  you,"  said 
Esther,  "  it  may,  indeed,  make  you  despise  me,  if  my 
suspicions  are  unjust,  but  I  unfold  every  thought  of  my 
heart  to  you,  as  I  desire  to  do  to  my  God." 

At  first  Mrs.  Page  was  deeply  agitated,  which  only 
tended  to  confirm  Esther's  suspicions ;  but  by  the  time 
Esther  had  finished,  Mrs.  Page  regained  her  composure 
and  said,  "Now,  my  friend,  since  you  have  tried  to 
meddle  with  my  affairs  I  will  prove  how  foolish  and 
sinful  you  have  acted.  I  will  tell  you  the  cause  for  my 
dislike  of  Mr.  Mortimer,  I  know  a  fact  which  Ruth 


OR,    THE    NEW  HYGEIA.  153 

does  not  know  or  even  suspect.  This  same  William 
Mortimer  has  broken  off  his  engagement  with  Miss 
Alice  Dupont  because  she  accused  him  of  an  attachment 
to  my  daughter.  This  has  come  to  my  ears,  how,  I 
will  not  tell  you ;  but  do  you  wonder,  under  these 
circumstances,  that  I  do  not  want  Ruth  to  meet  Mr. 
Mortimer,  and  thus  perhaps  furnish  a  confirmation  of 
Miss  Dupont's  slander." 

Esther  felt  as  if  she  should  sink  through  the  floor. 
"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Mrs.  Page,"  she  said,  "  I  see  now 
how  unfounded  my  suspicions  were,  and  I  regret  the 
wrong  I  have  done  in  suggesting  them  to  your  daughter's 
mind.  Please  pardon  me,"  and  Esther  wept  tears  of 
penitence. 

"  I  pardon  you,"  said  Mrs.  Page,  "  but  I  think  you 
will  see  now  that  your  duty  is  to  aid  me  in  inducing 
Ruth  to  leave  before  Mr.  Mortimer  appears  on  the 
scene." 

"  Mrs.  Page,  may  I  state  this  to  Ruth?  " 

"Yes,  I  wish  you  would;  I  have  tried  to  bring 
myself  to  do  it,  but  somehow  I  could  not." 

Esther  sought  out  Ruth,  and  with  many  supplications 
for  her  pardon  told  her  all ;  indeed,  she  humbled  her 
self  in  the  dust  before  her.  "  Oh,  Ruth,"  she  said, 
"what  have  I  done;  here  I  might  have  caused  bad 
feeling  between  you  and  your  mother." 

Ruth  heard  Esther  calmly  through  and  then  said, 
"  Esther,  you  have,  indeed,  put  my  confidence  in  my 
mother  to  a  sore  strain." 

"  Oh,  do  not  say  that,"  said  Esther,  "  you  know  what 
the  Bible  says,  honor  your  father  and  mother." 


154  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"  God  knows  I  want  so  to  do,"  said  Ruth,  "  but  I 
confess  that  my  faith  in  my  mother's  veracity  is  sorely 
taxed ;  this  is  the  most  surprising  story  I  ever  heard  — 
that  Miss  Dupont,  who  always  treated  me  so  kindly, 
should  quarrel  with  her  lover  about  myself;  he  never 
visited  me  but  twice,  and  then  to  consult  me  about  her 
health.  God  knows  that  there  never  rose  a  feeling  in 
my  heart  to  William  Mortimer,  except  that  of  respect 
for  a  man  who  seemed  to  be  a  gentleman,  and  not  one 
act  of  his  ever  betokened  the  slightest  regard  for  me, 
except  as  a  healer  of  his  betrothed.  I  believe  it  is  all 
a  hallucination  in  my  mother's  mind,  and  it  only  con 
firms  my  suspicion  that  her  mind  is  becoming  affected. 
But  this  is  not  all,  said  Ruth,  looking  at  Esther,  earnestly, 
"  there  are  some  things  still  left  unexplained ;  I  demand 
that  you  shall  now  go  with  me  and  hear  my  mother 
explain  them,  as  I  believe  she  can." 

"  Oh,  excuse  me,  Ruth.  I  have  already  done  mischief 
enough.  I  know  your  mother  does  not  want  to  see  me 
again." 

"  Come  with  me,"  said  Ruth,  with  an  authoritative 
air,  "you  have  started  in  my  mind  suspicions;  you 
must  not  leave  me  till  they  are  removed  or  con 
firmed." 

Mrs.  Page  was  sitting  by  the  window  with  her  head 
resting  on  her  arm.  She  lifted  it  up  as  Ruth  and 
Esther  entered,  and  there  was  a  frightened  expression 
on  her  face.  Ruth  went  right  to  her  mother,  and  said, 
"  Esther  has  told  me  all  you  told  her.  I  firmly  believe 
you  are  mistaken  about  Mr.  Mortimer's  having  quar 
relled  with  Miss  Dupont." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  155 

"  No,"  said  Mrs.  Page,  firmly,  "  I  am  sure  of  it  and 
can  prove  it  to  you." 

"  Then,"  said  Ruth,  "  it  is  only  more  important  that 
some  things  should  be  cleared  up.  Mother,  I  never 
before  asked  you  this  question,  but  I  must  ask  it  now. 
Am  I  your  own  daughter,  or  did  you  adopt  me  when  I 
was  a  babe?" 

"  Why,  Ruth  !  Why  do  you  ask  me  such  a  question? 
Certainly  you  are  my  own  daughter." 

But  Ruth  did  not  yet  seem  satisfied.  "  Then  please 
tell  me  who  was  my  father  —  what  was  his  name. 
You  have  always  led  me  to  believe  it  was  Page." 

"  I  refuse  to  answer  that  question,"  said  Mrs.  Page, 
doggedly.  "  It  is  one  you  would  never  have  thought 
of  asking  had  not  that  wretched  woman  there  filled 
your  mind  with  suspicions  about  your  mother." 

"  Esther  Bates  has  not  filled  my  mind  with  suspi 
cions,"  said  Ruth,  becoming  somewhat  excited,  "  and  I 
don't  want  to  think  that  one  whom  I  have  always  loved 
as  my  mother  has  reason  to  fear  the  suspicions  of  any 
woman.  I  want,  yea,  demand,  that  you  shall  now 
explain  this  fact.  You  doubtless  remember  I  once 
found  a  Bible  with  my  name  written  '  Ruth  M.  Page.' 
You  told  me  that  M.  stood  for  the  name  of  a  person 
who  had  turned  out  so  badly  that  you  did  not  want  me 
to  know  who  he  was,  but  I  demand  now  to  know 
whether  that  M.  stood  for  Mortimer." 

"  Ruth,  I  am  getting  very  weak  and  you  are  getting 
very  excited.  I  beg  you  to  stop  this  foolish  ques 
tioning." 

"  I  will  not  stop,"  said  Ruth.     "  My  whole  reputation 


156  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

is  at  stake.  If  there  is  any  mystery  about  my  birth,  I 
demand  that  now,  having  become  of  age,  I  shall  be 
informed  of  it." 

"  There  is  none,"  said  Mrs.  Page.  "  As  I  have  just 
assured  you,  Ruth,  you  are  my  lawfully-born  daughter." 

"  Was  my  father  alive  when  I  was  born?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  Mrs.  Page. 

"  Were  you  living  with  him  then?  " 

"  No,  I  was  traveling,  and  passing  through  Chicago." 

"  Were  you  divorced  from  him  at  the  time  I  was 
born?  Now,  answer  me,  mother,  for  if  you  do  not 
inform  me  about  this,  I  declare  that  I  will  have  it 
looked  up.  I  have  a  right  to  know  who  my  father 
really  was." 

Mrs.  Page  rose  from  her  chair,  her  face  pale  but 
determined.  "  Ruth,"  she  said,  "  you  have  forced  your 
mother  to  divulge  a  secret  which  she  has  tried  to  keep 
for  your  sake,  as  well  as  for  her  own.  You  shall  have 
it  now,  since  you  thus  wrest  it  from  me.  You  are  the 
daughter  of  myself  and  Eugene  Mortimer.  He  wanted 
to  get  rid  of  me  because  he  hated  me  and  loved  another 
woman.  I  found  this  out,  and,  in  my  indignation,  I 
scorned  him,  yea,  left  him,  demanding  my  rights  in 
only  one  respect,  namely,  that  out  of  his  vast  wealth  he 
should  make  a  liberal  allowance  for  our  yet  unborn 
child.  He  gave  me  that  $50,000.  How  faithfully  I 
have  kept  it,  how  lavishly  I  have  spent  it  on  you,  how 
fully  I  have  gratified  your  every  desire,  you  well  know. 
I  hate  the  very  name  of  Mortimer,  and  I  did  not  want 
you  to  ever  bear  that  accursed  name.  My  maiden  name 
was  Page.  I  retook  this  after  my  divorce,  though  you 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  157 

were  baptized  Ruth  Mortimer  Page  because  I  wanted 
your  legal  rights  guarded.  Yet  I  tried  to  obliterate 
that  hated  name  from  my  memory  and  keep  it  from 
your  knowledge.  And  there  is  another  reason  which 
made  me  careful  to  keep  these  things  from  you.  I 
have  not  a  single  paper  to  establish  the  facts  which 
I  have  just  stated.  The  divorce  record  only  shows 
that  the  $50,000  was  paid  to  myself.  Your  name  was 
not  mentioned  in  the  proceedings.  I  had  a  secret  paper 
drawn  up  by  a  lawyer,  in  which  your  father,  Eugene 
Mortimer,  owns  you  as  his  child,  but,  unfortunately,  I 
have  lost  that  paper.  I  kept  it  in  my  bosom,  traveled 
with  it,  but  while  in  New  York  mislaid  it.  I  came  here 
this  summer  with  the  very  purpose  of  hunting  up  the 
lawyer  who  drew  up  that  paper,  but  I  find  he  is  dead. 
I  cannot  even  remember  the  names  of  the  witnesses. 
The  paper  was  drawn  up  the  night  I  left  Grasslands  ;  I 
only  remember  that  one  of  the  witnesses  signed  it  with 
his  mark.  Now,  Ruth,  this  secret  has  so  long  rankled 
in  my  breast  that  it  has  almost  crazed  me,"  and  the 
poor  woman,  pressing  her  hand  to  her  brow,  added, 
"  My  head  throbs  so  that  I  can  hardly  say  more,  but  I 
must  say  this  to  you :  Never  expect  any  recognition 
from  William  Mortimer,  for  to  recognize  you  is  to 
condemn  his  own  father.  He  will  rather  spurn  you. 
He  is  the  son  of  a  faithless  father  and  of  a  woman  to 
whom,  if  God's  Bible  be  true,  Eugene  Mortimer  was 
never  lawfully  married.  William  Mortimer  is  in  God's 
sight  to-day  the  bastard ;  Ruth  Mortimer  is  the  only 
rightful  child  of  Eugene  Mortimer.  I  know  that  human 
laws  would  not  regard  it  so,  and  that  William  Mortimer, 


158  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

as  a  lawyer,  will  care  very  little  for  divine  laws.  He  will 
spurn  you  as  his  father  did  me,  and  try  to  defame  my 
character  to  shield  his  father's  reputation."  And  then 
her  mother  added  in  trembling  tones,  "  I  am  through, 
Ruth.  I  may  have  been  wrong  in  deceiving  you  as  to 
your  parentage.  God  forgive  me  if  I  have  been,  but 
He  knows  that  it  was  for  your  good  I  tried  to  keep  you 
in  ignorance  of  these  facts.  I  shall  still  love  you, 
Ruth,  even  if  you  hate  me." 

"  Hate  you  !  "  said  Ruth,  as  she  sprang  forward  to 
clasp  her  mother  to  her  heart.  But  before  Ruth 
reached  her,  with  a  shriek  Mrs.  Page  fell  to  the  floor. 
"  Oh,  my  mother,  my  mother !  I  have  killed  you !  " 
cried  Ruth,  and  it  did  seem  as  if  Mrs.  Page  was  dead, 
for  she  lay  there  perfectly  motionless  and  totally 
unconscious. 


OR*   THE   NEW   HYGE1A. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

MORTIMER  MAKES    HIS   REPUTATION  AS   A  LAWYER  IN 
THE   CELEBRATED   CASE   OF   SIMPKINS  VS.    SIMPKINS. 

When  we  left  Mortimer,  Mrs.  Dupont  was  striving  to 
put  him  in  the  pillory  of  public  derision.  After  the 
re-entrance  of  her  daughter  into  society,  in  apparently 
perfect  health,  Mortimer  was  regarded  as  a  hard-hearted 
Turk.  He  was  pointed  at  as  a  Bluebeard  in  training  for 
cutting  off  his  wives'  heads  by  practising  on  the  hearts  of 
his  sweethearts.  Wise  mammas  warned  their  daughters 
against  him,  nevertheless,  strange  to  relate,  these 
daughters  treated  Mortimer  as  if  they  would  like  to 
run  the  risk  of  having  their  fair  heads  decapitated. 
But  society  did  not  stop  here  —  the  story  grew  by 
endless  enlargement.  First,  gossip  had  it  that  the 
engagement  was  broken  off  by  Mortimer's  becoming 
tired  of  Alice  Dupont,  —  then,  just  the  reverse,  Alice 
had  got  tired  of  Mortimer.  Then  gossip's  curiosity 
was  excited  —  why  did  a  good  girl  like  Alice  Dupont, 
who  was  now  so  regularly  at  church,  sewing  bees  and 
missionary  societies,  have  to  break  her  engagement 
with  Mortimer?  "Ah!"  said  Mrs.  Tonguey  to  Mrs. 
Peeping,  "  don't  tell,  but  I've  discovered  there  was  a 


l6o  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

woman  in  the  case"  —  how  that  woman  changed 
chameleon-like  with  the  character  of  every  woman 
who  discussed  her;  first,  she  was  a  mind-curer,  then  a 
faith-healer,  then  a  spiritualist,  then,  oh,  something 
awfully  bad.  Talk  of  the  heartlessness  of  surgeons,  as 
they  carve  up  human  bodies,  thrusting  their  sharp 
knives  into  tender  parts  and  severing  sensitive  nerves ; 
but  the  surgeon  never  equals  the  skill  and  delight  with 
which  a  female  gossip  amputates  and  dissects  human 
character,  —  there  was  nothing  left  of  Mortimer  after 
he  had  been  under  the  surgery  of  these  gossips ;  poor 
fellow !  his  reputation  could  not  even  be  cremated,  for 
there  was  nothing  left  of  it  to  cremate. 

Mortimer  stood  it  calmly  and  bravely,  but  when  his 
friend,  Dr.  Strong,  after  meeting  Alice  in  the  park, 
bounded  in  his  room  and  began  echoing  the  hue  and 
cry,  Mortimer's  patience  broke  down.  He  thereupon 
told  the  doctor  the  whole  story  of  his  final  interview 
with  Alice.  It  was  now  the  doctor's  turn  to  wince, 
while  Mortimer  detailed  how  his  simple  letter  of  intro 
duction,  for  the  doctor,  was  the  spark  which  ignited  the 
flame  of  Alice's  jealousy.  He  wound  up  by  saying, 
"  Doctor,  I  challenge  you  to  find  in  any  action  of  mine 
to  Miss  Page  anything  but  what  would  betoken  merely 
respect.  You  know  the  merits  of  Miss  Page." 

"  Indeed  I  do,"  said  Dr.  Strong,  "  and  though  I 
think  you  should  have  made  more  allowance  for  Alice's 
hysterical  condition,  yet  I  confess  I  would  have  broken 
an  engagement  with  any  girl  who  used  me  as  a  target 
for  such  unjust  accusations ;  Mortimer,  give  me  your 
hand,  I  beg  your  pardon ;  I  will  stand  by  you,  old  boy, 


OR,    THE    NEW    PIYGEIA.  l6l 

even  if  I  earn  the  enmity  of  the  Duponts  and  lose  the 
chance  of  having  them  as  my  patients."  But  Mortimer 
acted  still  more  wisely ;  he  withdrew  from  society  and 
devoted  himself  to  his  practice.  Dr.  Strong  advised 
Mortimer  to  take  as  his  specialty  Medical  Jurisprudence. 
"  It's  a  rich  field  and  a  lucrative  one,"  said  the  doctor, 
"  and  one  you  may  succeed  in,  since  you  have  studied 
so  much  on  the  mind.  You  will  be  surprised  to  find 
how  many  legal  cases  are  connected  with  mental 
physiology." 

Mortimer  took  his  friend's  advice.  Soon  a  case 
occurred  which  drew  to  him  much  attention.  It  was 
reported  in  the  newspapers,  discussed  in  medical  and 
legal  circles. 

The  case  was  as  follows :  Mr.  Simpkins  a  man  of 
great  wealth  had  suddenly  exhibited  signs  of  insanity, 
at  least  so  his  family  contended.  Singularly,  Mr. 
Simpkins  had  always  ready  at  hand  a  good  reason  for 
his  seemingly  mad  freaks.  He  first  showed  his  mental 
disturbance  by  his  peculiar  attire ;  he  would  appear  at 
parties  with  a  sky-blue  coat  covered  with  stars,  white 
vest,  and  red  pants.  His  wife  and  family  tried  to 
dissuade  him  from  wearing  this  rather  striking  garb, 
but  he  persisted  in  so  doing.  He  said,  "  Look  at  my 
dress  and  compare  it  with  the  attire  of  that  English 
lord's,  whom  all  you  ladies  are  going  wild  over,  or  with 
that  American  dude's,  whom  I  saw  my  daughter  walking 
with  yesterday,  which  is  the  most  sensible  dress  of  the 
two?  My  dress  at  least  preaches  patriotism,  while  that 
of  your  friend  the  lord  or  the  American  dude  only 
tends  to  prove  the  Darwinian  theory.  I  know  it  looks 


l62  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

ridiculously,  but  that's  my  very  purpose  in  wearing  it,  I 
want  to  show  the  ridiculousness  of  any  departure  from 
common  usages  in  dress.  I  expect  to  be  laughed  at, 
for  every  one  must  be  laughed  at  who  attempts  a  public 
reform,  especially  in  dress ;  I  am  rich  and  independent 
and  can  stand  the  laugh  of  fashionable  boobies."  The 
result  was  that  Mrs.  and  Miss  Simpkins  withdrew  from 
society  and  let  the  star-spangled-banner-suit  wave. 
But  soon  what  they  regarded  as  another  freak  appeared. 
One  day,  to  their  consternation,  Mr.  Simpkins  sent  for 
a  number  of  furniture  wagons,  and  into  them  was  piled 
a  very  valuable  library  of  novels  which  adorned  their 
parlor,  —  Mr.  Simpkins'  avowed  purpose  being  to  make 
an  auto  de  fe  of  them  all.  His  family  protested  and 
wrung  their  hands.  They  even  sent  for  a  doctor  to 
examine  their  father  to  see  whether  his  mind  was 
unbalanced.  Mr.  Simpkins  answered  calmly  to  the 
doctor's  questions,  but  when  the  doctor  tried  to  convince 
him  that  this  holocaust  wTas  unnecessary,  the  latter 
stooped  down  and  taking  up  one  of  the  novels  read  a 
passage  from  it,  then  said,  "  Doctor,  would  you  like 
your  own  daughter's  mind  to  be  exposed  to  such  a 
picture  of  vice?  Please  say  nothing  more;  I  know 
what  these  novels  contain.  They  ought  to  be  in  the 
fire,  or  they  will  kindle  the  fire  of  hell  in  my  daughter's 
heart." 

The  doctor  heard  the  passage  read,  and  turning  on 
his  heels  exclaimed,  "  If  it  be  insanity  to  burn  such 
books,  I  wish  every  father  in  this  city  would  become 
insane." 

But    another   incident    occurred   which    threw   Mr. 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  163 

Simpkins'  family  into  perfect  terror.  They  discovered 
that  he  was  constantly  visiting  cutlery  shops,  and 
bringing  mysterious  bundles  therefrom.  They  inspected 
his  room  while  he  was  away,  and  the  drawers,  closets 
and  book-cases  disclosed  a  sight  which  made  their 
blood  fairly  curdle,  —  knives,  daggers,  dirks  and  stilet 
tos  of  all  kinds  lay  there  in  abundance  enough  to 
murder  a  whole  regiment.  Then  the  patience  of  the 
family  broke  down,  and  a  writ  of  de  lunatico  inquerindo 
was  sued  out.  The  family  had  heard  of  William  Morti 
mer's  skill  in  a  former  case,  and  they  retained  him  as 
their  counsel.  Mr.  Simpkins  with  his  wealth  was  able 
to  retain  Mr.  Coke,  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  at  the  bar. 
The  trial  came  off,  and  it  was  a  great  one ;  the  court 
room,  as  the  newspapers  said,  "was  crowded  with  the 
female  aristocracy  of  New  York."  William  Mortimer 
coolly  surveyed  his  fair  audience,  and  in  turn  was 
earnestly  surveyed  by  them.  He  was  really  to  them  a 
greater  object  of  curiosity  than  Mr.  Simpkins,  for  had 
not  Mortimer  plunged  a  dagger  into  Alice's  heart,  while 
as  yet  Mr.  Simpkins  with  all  his  knives  and  daggers 
had  not  decapitated  even  a  cat. 

The  counsel  for  Mr.  Simpkins  took  the  ground  that 
his  client  was  the  victim  of  a  most  villainous  domestic 
conspiracy ;  that  his  wife  and  children  only  desired  to 
get  possession  of  his  money,  therefore  were  trying  to 
have  him  adjudged  non  compos  mentis;  that  Mr.  Simp- 
kins  was  acting  from  the  highest  motives  in  using  his 
large  fortune  to  correct  the  evils  of  society,  and  instead 
of  being  sent  to  Bloomingdale,  ought  to  have  a 
monument  erected  to  him  in  Central  Park.  As  to  his 


164  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

peculiar  dress  showing  insanity,  Mr.  Coke  laughed  at 
the  idea.  He  had  procured  a  photograph  of  the  dress 
worn  by  a  noted  society  swell.  This  he  put  by  the 
side  of  Mr.  Simpkins'  photograph,  —  arrayed  in  his 
star-spangled-banner-suit,  —  and  asked,  amid  a  chorus 
of  laughter  from  both  jury  and  spectators,  which  of 
the  two  men  was  the  most  sensibly  dressed.  As  to 
the  novels,  Mr.  Coke  had  one  rescued  from  the  burning 
pile,  from  which  he  read  a  certain  passage  in  open 
court,  under  which  reading  the  ladies  hid  their  faces 
behind  their  fans,  and  the  judge  had  to  interrupt  the 
reading.  "  You  are  perfectly  right,  your  Honor,  in 
interrupting  the  reading,"  said  Mr.  Coke,  "  I  beg  your 
pardon  and  that  of  the  ladies  present  for  reading  that 
passage ;  I  only  wanted  to  prove,  what  the  moral  sense 
of  yourself,  the  jury  and  the  virtuous  spectators  here 
present  must  agree  to,  that  a  father  does  not  show 
insanity  by  burning  such  books."  When,  however,  the 
learned  counsel  came  to  the  question  of  the  knives, 
daggers,  etc.,  he  evidently  appreciated  he  had  a  more 
difficult  point  to  explain.  But  Mr.  Coke  had  so  well 
paved  his  way  to  the  sympathy  of  jury  and  spectators 
that  they  were  disposed  to  look  more  leniently  on  this 
matter.  Mr.  Coke  had  quietly  subpoenaed  a  few 
millionaires,  they  all  knew  Mr.  Simpkins  and  liked  him 
for  his  many  good  traits,  and  had  a  sort  of  sympathy 
with  him  from  the  fact  that  millionaires  are  very  subject 
to  be  "  persecuted  for  righteousness  sake  "  in  the  way 
of  being  sent  to  insane  asylums,  or  having  their  wills 
contested,  by  their  relations.  •* 

Mr.  Mahemay  was  first  summoned.    "  Mr.  Mahemay," 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  165 

said  Lawyer  Coke,  "  how  long  have  you  known  Mr. 
Simpkins?  " 

"  For  over  thirty  years." 

"What  is  your  opinion  of  his  judgment  in  financial 
affairs?" 

"  A  man  of  rare  judgment  and  of  sound  mind  in  all 
things  pertaining  to  money." 

"  Would  you  take  his  opinion  to-day  on  an  investment 
of  a  half  million  dollars?" 

"  Yes,  and  of  a  million." 

"Well,  Mr.  Mahemay,  what  do  you  think  about  his 
investing  so  much  in  these  weapons?  Do  you  regard 
it  as  a  sign  of  insanity?  " 

"  No,  sir,  for  then  we  would  have  to  erect  in 
Wall  street  the  largest  insane  asylum  that  was  ever 
built." 

"  Why  do  you  assert  that  so  confidently,  Mr.  Mahe 
may?" 

"  Because  there  are  hundreds  of  men  wasting  their 
money  on  much  less  useful  articles." 

"  Relate  a  few  examples,  if  you  please." 

"  It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  one-tenth  of 
the  instances  where  men  are  annually  spending  small 
fortunes  in  bric-a-brac,  ceramics  and  knick-knacks. 
You,  of  course,"  said  Mr.  Mahemay,  with  a  smile,  "  have 
heard  of  a  certain  peach-blow  vase,  for  which  it  is 
rumored  a  check  of  a  round  $30,000  was  handed  over. 
And  as  for  bronzes,  the  money  annually  invested  in 
them  is  probably  millions.  I  do  not  wish  to  call  names, 
but  I  know  of  one  man  who  has  spent  tens  of  thousands 
on  guns,  his  house  is  a  perfect  armory;  another,  on 


1 66  RUTH,   THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

fishing-tackle,  his  mansion  looks  like  a  whaling  ware 
house.  Another  has  ransacked  all  lands  for  different 
kinds  of  pottery ;  another  has  nearly  ruined  himself  on 
a  collection  of  pocket-knives;  another  will  soon  be 
bankrupt  if  he  don't  stop  buying  clocks ;  "  and,  casting  a 
glance  at  the  fair  spectators,  Mr.  Mahemay  dryly  added, 
"  I  know  of  one  lady  who  has  spent  thousands  on  an 
asylum  for  cats,  and  as  for  poodles,  they  have  ruined 
many  a  family." 

The  audience  here  laughed,  the  judge  rapped  and 
said,  "The  witness  will  please  confine  himself  to  the 
evidence." 

"  That  is  just  what  my  witness  is  trying  to  do,  your 
honor,"  said  Lawyer  Coke,  "  I  might  have  asked  him 
about  fast  horses  and  yachts;  you,  yourself,  know, 
your  honor,  how  many  by  these  ruin  themselves  and 
their  families  yet  no  one  thinks  of  putting  them  in 
an  insane  asylum."  * 

Mr.  Coke  then  summoned  a  noted  apothecary;  "  Mr. 
Pepper,"  he  asked,  "  have  you  among  your  customers 
any  who  spend  large  sums  on  narcotics?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Mr.  Pepper. 

"  How  much  is  the  highest  amount  you  have  ever 
sold  to  a  single  person  in  a  year?  " 

"  Well,  take  all  narcotics,  opium,  chloral,  and  the 
different  bromides,  I  should  say  about  a  thousand 
dollars  worth." 

*  Appleton's  Art  Journal  states  that  "  Nearly  $40,000  were  paid  recently  for  a 
pair  of  vases  eleven  and  a  half  inches  high,  and  of  rare  though  not  aesthetically 
beautiful  form;  and  still  more  recently,  a  bureau,  inlaid  with  celebrated  Sevies 
plaques,  brought  $100,000.  The  sum  of  $250,000  has  been  expended  during  the  last 
ten  years  by  an  English  collector  in  the  purchase  of  a  marvellous  and  inordinate 
hoard  of  old  pottery  and  porcelain  of  all  shapes,  sizes,  ages,  nations  and  dates." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  167 

"  Has  that  customer  ever  been  judged  insane,  Mr. 
Pepper?" 

"  No,  not  that  I  ever  heard  of." 

"  Mr.  Pepper,  what  is  your  candid  opinion  about  the 
use  of  narcotics  in  what  are  called  the  best  circles  of 
society?  " 

Mr.  Pepper  looked  inquiringly  at  the  judge  and  said, 
"Am  I  compelled  to  answer  that  question;  it  may 
injure  my  business." 

"  Your  honor,"  interposed  Mr.  Coke,  "  permit  me  to 
state  my  reason  for  that  question.  I  am  trying  to  prove 
that  men  and  women  regarded  as  sane  are  spending  their 
money  on  what  tends  to  produce  insanity,  and  yet  no 
one  ever  thinks  of  depriving  these  of  their  liberty, 
while  here  is  my  client,  whom  his  family  want  to  shut 
up  in  an  insane  asylum  because  he  is  simply  making  a 
good  collection  of  cutlery." 

"  Mr.  Pepper,  you  can  answer,"  said  the  judge. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Pepper,  "I  should  judge  that  the 
use  of  narcotics  in  what  are  called  good  circles  of 
society  is  very  large." 

"  Do  you  judge  it  is  larger  than  the  use  of  intoxicating 
liquors?  " 

"  I  would  not  say  larger,  but  I  am  convinced  it  is 
more  general." 

Mr.  Coke  then  summoned  witnesses  on  all  sorts  of 
human  quirks,  indeed,  before  he  got  through,  it  seemed 
as  if  he  had  proven  one-half  of  New  York  City  to  be  in 
a  state  of  insanity,  that  is,  if  his  much  injured  client 
had  to  be  judged  insane. 

All  this  time  the  tide  of  sentiment  was  strongly  set 


1 68  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

against  Mortimer's  side  of  the  case.  Mrs.  Simpkins 
and  her  daughter  sat  with  their  faces  veiled;  they 
could  not  stand  the  glances  of  contempt  hurled  at  them 
by  their  female  acquaintances.  Mortimer  sat  very 
composedly,  he  rarely  put  any  questions  to  Mr.  Coke's 
witnesses. 

On  the  second  day  Mortimer  opened  his  side  of  the 
case.  The  court-room  was  densely  packed ;  among 
the  auditors  were  many  well-known  physicians,  and 
the  fashionable  circles  were  represented  by  women 
who  pushed  and  shoved  for  a  place  in  a  way  that  would 
have  disgraced  the  frequenters  of  a  prize  ring.  Morti 
mer  opened  his  case  with  a  brief  argument.  He  simply 
claimed  that  though  the  opposing  counsel  had  very 
ingeniously  shown  the  vagaries  of  other  people  they 
had  not  accounted  for  the  object  of  their  client  in 
possessing  so  many  daggers,  stilettos,  etc.  Mortimer 
said  he  would  confine  himself  to  two  points,  namely,  to 
prove  that  Mr.  Simpkins  was  insane,  and  that  the 
direction  of  his  insanity  was  so  dangerous  that  he  could 
not  be  safely  left  at  large.  The  first  witness  he  called 
was  Mrs.  Simpkins.  She  testified  that  one  night  before 
retiring  she  found  under  the  pillow  in  the  bed,  which 
she  and  her  husband  occupied,  a  dagger.  This  caused 
a  thrill  in  the  female  portion  of  the  audience.  Mr. 
Coke  tried  to  break  down  this  testimony  by  severe 
cross-examination,  but  Mortimer  was  ready  for  the 
emergency.  He  called  the  daughter,  who  testified  that 
her  mother  had  shown  her  the  dagger  under  the  pillow. 
But  in  his  cross-examination,  Mr.  Coke  asked,  "  How 
do  you  know,  Miss  Simpkins,  but  that  your  mother  put 
it  there  herself?  " 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  169 

Miss  Simpkins  burst  into  tears  and  exclaimed,  "  Do 
you  think  my  mother  wants  to  prove  anything  false 
about  my  father?  " 

Mr.  Coke  looked  triumphantly  at  the  jury,  as  much 
as  to  say,  "  Ah  !  you  see  how  this  matter  stands.  It  is 
a  conspiracy  between  mother  and  daughter." 

But  Mortimer  further  proved  that  when  Mrs.  Simpkins 
came  to  advise  with  him  on  this  case  he  had  counselled 
her  to  have  other  witnesses  to  the  daggers;  these 
witnesses  were  summoned,  and  they  testified  that  on  a 
certain  night  they  inspected  Mr.  Simpkins'  bedroom, 
and  there  found  a  dagger,  stiletto  and  dirk  under  Mr. 
Simpkins'  pillow.  The  only  loophole  left  was  the 
question,  "Who  put  them  there?"  but  this  was  closed 
by  Mortimer's  producing  witnesses  who  testified  that  no 
one  had  been  in  the  room  that  day  but  Mr.  Simpkins, 
and  that  in  the  morning  the  weapons  were  not  there. 
Still,  the  question  recurred,  "  What  did  he  want  to  do 
with  those  weapons?"  and  over  this  the  opposing 
counsel  wrangled  the  rest  of  the  second  day. 

On  the  third  day,  Mortimer  called  Mr.  Simpkins 
himself  to  the  witness  stand.  As  he  stepped  into  the 
witness  box  arrayed  in  his  star-spangled-banner-suit, 
there  was  a  general  smile,  which  was  responded  to  by 
Mr.  Simpkins,  who  looked  around  on  the  audience 
with  perfect  good  nature,  and  who  answered  Mortimer's 
questions  with  perfect  composure.  "  Mr.  Simpkins," 
said  Mortimer,  "  did  you  put  any  daggers  and  dirks 
under  your  pillow  in  the  bed  which  you  and  your  wife 
generally  occupy?" 

"  Certainly,"  said  Mr.  Simpkins,  "  I  could  have  spared 


170  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

all  of  your  yesterday's  questioning  and  cross-questioning 
if  you  had  only  summoned  me.  I  freely  acknowledge 
that  I  have  several  times  put  daggers,  dirks  and  stilettos 
under  my  pillow." 

"Why,  Mr.  Simpkins,  have  you  done  this?" 

"  For  the  same  reason,  Mr.  Mortimer,  that  I  suppose 
you  have  often  slept  with  a  pistol  under  you  pillow ; 
you  know  there  have  been  some  fearful  murders  and 
robberies  in  our  city  lately,  and  I  wanted  to  be  ready 
to  protect  my  family." 

"Why  did  you  choose  daggers  instead  of  a  pistol?  " 

"  Because  pistols  may  miss  fire,  but  a  dagger  is 
always  reliable." 

"  Why  did  you  have  so  many,  then?  " 

"  Because  I  thought  if  I  was  attacked,  while  I  used 
one  weapon,  my  wife  could  seize  another,  and  our  cry 
for  help  would  bring  our  servants  who  could  use  the 
others."  Mr.  Coke  looked  with  a  self-satisfied  air  at 
the  judge  and  jury,  while  his  client  was  giving  such 
logical  testimony. 

Mortimer,  however,  without  being  at  all  discouraged, 
went  on.  He  questioned  Mr.  Simpkins  about  different 
kinds  of  weapons,  their  effectiveness,  cost  and  so  forth; 
every  question  was  correctly  answered ;  indeed,  it 
seemed  that  Mortimer's  questioning  was  rather  proving 
Mr.  Simpkins'  sanity.  At  last  Mortimer  abruptly  asked, 
"  Mr.  Simpkins,  what  do  you  think  of  the  Fenians?  " 

"  I  object  to  that  question,"  said  Mr.  Coke,  hastily 
springing  to  his  feet,  "  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
case  in  hand." 

"Your  honor,"  said  Mr.  Mortimer,  "I   beg  to  differ 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  171 

from  my  learned  friend ;  I  think  I  can  prove  that  it  has 
much  to  do  with  the  case  in  hand." 

"Well,  proceed,  Mr.  Mortimer,"  said  the  judge,  "  and 
we  will  see  where  you  come  out." 

"  Mr.  Simpkins,"  asked  Mortimer  again,  "what  do 
you  think  of  the  Fenians?" 

For  the  first  time  Mr.  Simpkins  showed  excitement, 
and  he  answered  in  thundering  tones,  "  I  think  they  are 
a  pack  of  robbers  and  ought  to  be  hung." 

"Well,  Mr.  Simpkins,"  said  Mortimer,  soothingly, 
"  they  are  a  pretty  hard  crowd,  but  why  do  you  dislike 
them  so  particularly?" 

"  Because  they  want  to  take  away  a  part  of  my 
Dominion." 

"Ah,  yes,  Mr.  Simpkins,  I  understand,  you  own 
Canada  and  all  Great  Britain,  don't  you?  " 

"  Certainly  I  do." 

"Well,  how  did  it  come  into  your  possession?  " 

"  Through  my  marriage  with  the  Queen  of  England." 

"  She  is,  then,  your  lawful  wife?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Simpkins,  with  a  majestic  wave  of 
his  hand. 

Mr.  Coke  here  became  excited  himself  and  called 
out,  "Be  careful,  Mr.  Simpkins,  how  you  joke  about 
this  matter.  I,  of  course,  understand  you  as  joking, 
but  the  jury  may  not."  Mr.  Simpkins  gave  a  look  of 
intense  scorn  at  Mr.  Coke. 

"Your  honor,"  said  Mr.  Mortimer,  "  I  hope  you  will 
allow  me  to  proceed  with  my  own  witness  without 
interruption." 

"  Mr.  Mortimer  will  proceed,"  said  the  judge. 


172  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"  Mr.  Simpkins,  of  course  you  are  right,"  said 
Mortimer,  "  but  why  don't  you  go  to  England  and 
claim  your  wife?  " 

"  Why,  don't  you  know  there's  a  woman  sitting  there 
near  you  who  says  she  is  my  wife?"  answered  Mr. 
Simpkins.  "  My  Vic  won't  acknowledge  me  as  long  as 
that  woman  is  living." 

"  It's  a  hard  case,"  said  Mortimer  in  sympathetic 
tones,  "  but  I  suppose  when  that  woman  there  (pointing 
to  Mrs.  Simpkins)  dies,  the  Queen  will  at  once  acknowl 
edge  you  as  her  husband." 

"  I  am  certain  of  it,"  said  Mr.  Simpkins,  triumphantly. 

"  Well,  now,  tell  me,  Mr.  Simpkins,"  said  Mortimer, 
in  a  confidential  tone,  "  is  there  not  some  connection 
between  that  suit  of  clothes  you  wear  and  this  fact  that 
Victoria  is  your  wife?  " 

"  Certainly  there  is,  I  embody  the  United  States 
Government,  and  my  rightful  wife  embodies  Great 
Britain ;  she  has  her  royal  crown,  and  I  have  my 
star-spangled-banner-suit ;  won't  it  be  a  magnificent 
sight  when  we  sit  on  the  throne  together  —  Brother 
Jonathan  and  Queen  Vic,  —  I  in  this  suit  and  Vic  in 
her  royal  robes,  why,  it  will  usher  in  the  millenium," 
and  Mr.  Simpkins  chuckled  with  satisfaction. 

"  I  agree  with  you  perfectly,"  said  Mortimer,  "  but 
why  don't  you  try  to  get  a  divorce  from  this  woman  in 
America,  who  thinks  she  is  your  wife,  and  then  marry 
the  queen?" 

"  I  proposed  it,  but  she  refused  to  accede  to  it." 

"  Then  you  will  have  to  wait  till  she  dies,  will  you 
not?" 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  1^3 

"Yes,  sir,"  answered  Simpkins  with  a  sigh,  "  and  I 
wish  she  would  hurry  up  and  do  so." 

"  Your  honor,"  said  Mortimer,  "  I  here  rest  my  case." 

Mr.  Coke  then  took  the  witness  and  examined  him 
on  many  other  points,  carefully  keeping  him  off  the 
subject  of  the  Queen.  Mr.  Simpkins'  answers  were 
perfectly  correct  on  finance,  politics,  and  a  score  of 
other  subjects ;  indeed,  they  showed  an  unusually  good 
judgment.  When  Mr.  Coke  began  his  closing  speech 
he  used  these  answers  of  Mr.  Simpkins  to  the  best 
effect,  and  contended  that  it  was  sheer  madness  to  shut 
a  man  up  in  a  mad-house  because  he  had  the  single 
harmless  delusion  that  he  was  the  husband  of  the  Queen 
of  England.  This  was  Mr.  Coke's  main  point, — we 
need  not  detain  the  reader  with  the  variations  he  played 
on  that  single  cord. 

Mortimer  began  his  argument  with  a  careful  analysis 
of  hallucination.  He  drew  a  distinction  between 
hallucinations  arising  from  false  perception  of  the 
senses,  as,  for  example,  a  person  believing  that  he  had 
seen  a  ghost,  which  hallucination  is  harmless  except  to 
himself,  and  the  hallucinations  arising  from  derange 
ments  of  the  brain  which  impel  the  person  to  wrong 
actions,  such  as  murders,  theft,  etc.  He  cited  many 
examples  to  prove  that  the  mind  might  apparently 
reason  correctly  in  certain  train  of  ideas,  but  be 
completely  deranged  on  others,  which  derangement 
was  often  the  beginning  of  chronic  mania.  Mortimer 
cited  two  cases  recorded  by  that  learned  English  jurist, 
Lord  Erskine ;  one,  of  a  man  who  indicted  Dr.  Munro 
for  confining  him  without  cause  in  a  mad-house.  This 


1 74  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

man  underwent  a  most  rigid  examination  by  the  counsel 
of  the  defendant  without  discovering  any  appearance 
of  insanity,  until  a  gentleman  came  into  court  who 
desired  a  question  to  be  put  to  him  respecting  a 
princess  with  whom  he  had  corresponded  in  cherry- 
juice.  He  immediately  talked  about  the  princess  in 
the  most  insane  manner,  and  the  cause  was  at  an  end. 
But  this  having  taken  place  in  Westminster,  he  com 
menced  another  action  in  the  city  of  London,  and  on 
this  occasion  no  effort  could  induce  him  to  expose  his 
insanity,  so  that  the  cause  was  dismissed  only  by 
bringing  against  him  the  evidence  taken  at  Westminster. 
On  another  occasion,  Lord  Erskine  examined  a  gentle 
man  who  had  indicted  his  brother  for  confining  him  as 
a  maniac,  and  the  examination  had  gone  on  for  a  great 
part  of  a  day  without  discovering  any  trace  of  insanity. 
Dr.  Sims  then  came  into  court  and  informed  the  counsel 
that  the  gentleman  considered  himself  to  be  the  Savior 
of  the  world.  A  single  observation  addressed  to  him 
in  this  character  showed  his  insanity  and  put  an  end  to 
the  cause.  Several  years  ago  a  gentleman  in  Edinburgh, 
who  was  brought  before  a  jury  to  be  "  cognosced," 
defeated  every  attempt  of  the  opposite  counsel  to 
discover  any  trace  of  insanity,  until  a  gentleman  came 
into  court  who  ought  to  have  been  present  at  the 
beginning  of  the  case,  but  had  been  accidentally 
detained.  He  immediately  addressed  the  patient  by 
asking  him  what  were  his  latest  accounts  from  the 
planet  Saturn,  and  speedily  elicited  proofs  of  his 
insanity.  * 

*  Abercrombie's  Intellectual  Philosophy,  page  233. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  I  J$ 

"  I  need  not  stop  to  prove,"  said  Mortimer,  "  that 
the  case  on  trial  here  is  one  of  hallucination ;  even  my 
learned  brother,  the  opposing  counsel,  has  virtually 
admitted  it.  But,  unfortunately,  it  belongs  to  the  most 
dangerous  class.  It  is  one  of  those  cases,  which  you 
will  find  treated  of  in  medical  works,  which  often 
develops  into  confirmed  insanity.  Some  writers  say 
'that  in  hallucination  the  mind  reasons  correctly  but 
on  unsound  data,'  this,  however,  is  not  a  fair  statement. 
The  maniac  reasons  plausibly  and  ingeniously ;  that  is, 
he  catches  incidental  and  partial  relations  and  so 
rapidly  does  his  mind  do  this  that  it  may  at  first  be 
difficult  to  detect  their  fallacy.  But,  as  in  this  case, 
strike  his  hobby  and  reason  at  once  flies  off  at  a 
tangent.  The  man  is  deranged  on  one  point,  while 
his  wit,  acuteness  and  versatility  of  talent  makes  him 
appear  sane  on  all  others.  Smartness  is  no  sign  of 
sanity,  some  of  the  smartest  men  and  women  in  this 
country  are  to-day  in  insane  hospitals.  Still,  this 
peculiar  case  is  one  of  the  most  dangerous  ones  to  be 
left  at  large,  because  it  lies  in  the  line  of  homicidal 
tendencies.  Who  can  doubt  but  that  in  this  man's 
mind  there  is  a  firm  purpose  to  get  his  wife  out  of  the 
way  so  that  he  may  marry  Victoria.  You  might  laugh 
at  his  delusion  on  this  point,  as  you  do  at  his  clothes, 
were  it  not  that,  while  the  wearing  of  such  clothes  will 
never  lead  to  murder,  the  concealment  of  daggers 
under  his  pillow  will  undoubtedly  cost  his  wife's  life. 
I  acknowledge  that  Mr.  Simpkins  may  be  what  one 
witness  affirms,  a  good  judge  of  investments ;  he  may, 
as  my  learned  brother  has  proven,  have  been  no  more 


176  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

extravagant  in  the  purchase  of  daggers  than  men  who 
buy  bric-a-brac;  but  the  point  is  this,  his  peculiar 
monomania  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it  is  dangerous  for 
him  to  be  left  at  large.  He  needs  to  be  placed  where 
he  will  be  safe  from  harm  to  himself  or  others.  It  is 
not  merely  the  law  of  self-preservation,  but  love  for  her 
husband  and  desire  for  his  proper  care,  which  has  led 
this  devoted  wife  to  ask  that  his  sanity  may  be  inquired 
into  and  that  he  may  be  placed  in  Bloomingdale  until 
his  malady  shall  be  healed,  or  alas !  as  I  fear,  develop 
into  chronic  insanity."  The  jury  returned  a  verdict 
finding  lunacy. 

Mortimer  thus  won  his  case  and  made  his  reputation, 
then  society  turned  round  and  voted  him  a  marvel. 
Mothers  who  had  warned  their  daughters  against  him 
plied  him  with  invitations  to  their  homes.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  trial  Dr.  Strong  took  Mortimer  in  his 
carriage  to  his  lodgings,  and,  grasping  his  hand,  said, 
"  Old  fellow,  I  am  proud  of  you." 

"  Well,  doctor,"  said  Mortimer,  "  I  am  only  ashamed 
of  my  ignorance,  for  the  more  I  study  the  mind,  the 
more  I  realize  how  little  science  has  fathomed  its 
depths.  But,  I  confess,  this  case  of  Simpkins'  leads 
me  to  think  that  the  mind-cure  rightly  used  might  be 
of  great  avail  in  some  forms  of  insanity.  What  is  this 
monomania  but  the  domination  of  the  will  and  reason 
by  some  strong  mental  impulse,  which  sometimes 
drives  the  patient  to  even  murder?  Yet  so  learned  a 
physiologist  as  Dr.  Carpenter*  contends  '  that  whilst 
the  disordered  physical  state  of  the  brain,  when  once 

*  Carpenter's  Mental  Physiology,  page  674. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  1^7 

established,  puts  the  mind  beyond  the  control  of  the 
person,  yet  that  in  the  incipient  stages,  or  in  the 
convalescence  of  patients,  much  can  be  done  by 
influencing  him  to  exert  his  own  volition.' 

" '  Thus,'  adds  Dr.  Carpenter,*  '  the  judicious  physi 
cian,  when  endeavoring  either  to  ward  off  or  to  cure 
mental  disorder,  brings  to  bear  upon  the  patient  exactly 
the  same  power  as  that  which  is  exerted  by  an  educator 
of  the  highest  type.'  Dr.  Carpenter  further  states  that 
while  going  through  the  wards  on  the  female  side  of 
the  lunatic  asylum  at  Hanwell,  England,  Dr.  Connoly, 
the  physician  in  charge,  remarked  to  him  '  It  is  my 
belief  that  two-thirds  of  the  women  here  have  come  to 
require  restraint  through  the  habitual  indulgence  of  an 
originally  bad  temper.'  "  f 

"  Now,"  said  Mortimer,  "  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
mind-cure,  in  laying  its  axe  at  the  root  of  moral 
disorder,  is  one  of  the  most  efficient  instruments  that 
could  be  employed  in  certain  cases  of  mental  aberation. 
If  Drs.  Carpenter  and  Connoly  are  right,  and  certainly 
they  are  high  authorities,  right  impressions  on  the  mind 
are  both  preventive  and  curative  of  insanity.  As  I 
understand  the  mind-cure,  it  proposes  to  bring  to  bear 
on  the  mind  the  love,  truth  and  light  of  God.  If  these 
are  not  healing  powers,  what  are?  I  can  see  that  in 
structural  disorder  of  the  brain  there  is  no  opportunity 
for  these  to  act  on  the  mind  — as  the  mind-curer 
would  say,  "  it  is  not  in  a  receptive  state "  —  but  in 
that  large  class  of  mental  disorders  which  are  unaccom- 

*  Carpenter's  Mental  Physiology,  page  675. 
f  Idem,  page  663. 


i78 


RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST. 


panied  with  change  of  the  substance  of  the  brain,  why 
would  not  this  kind  of  treatment  be  beneficial?  "   * 

*  Since  writing  the  above  the  author  has  met  with  the  following  account,  which 
so  endorses  the  views  above  suggested,  that  some  cases  of  insanity  might  be  cured 
by  a  purely  mental  treatment,  that  it  is  here  appended.  He  found  it  copied  in  the 
Nantucket  Journal,  July  28,  1887. 

11  A  female  inmate  of  the  Dearborn  County  (Ind.)  Asylum  has,  according  to  the 
Cincinnati  Enquirer,  been  cured  of  a  strange  hallucination  in  a  rather  singular 
manner.  The  patient  was  a  middle  aged  lady  by  the  name  of  Coloway,  who  be 
lieved  she  had  a  pup  in  her  stomach,  and  while  reasonably  intelligent  upon  every 
other  subject  vehemently  insisted  that  a  young  dog  had  taken  up  its  abode  in 
her  stomach,  and  the  presence  of  the  unwelcome  animal  was  the  cause  of  all 
her  physical  ailments.  The  insane  idea  caused  her  to  be  extremely  troublesome 
to  her  keepers,  as  she  governed  herself  according  to  the  supposed  whims  of 
her  internal  companion,  and  at  certain  times  must  have  certain  kinds  of  food 
and  certain  kinds  of  drink,  because  the  pup  within  her  wanted  that  kind  of 
nourishment,  and  nothing  else  would  appease  its  supposed  viciousness.  If  her 
whims  were  not  complied  with  she  would  become  almost  ungovernable,  and  her 
annoyances  of  that  character  caused  her  to  be  a  sorce  of  constant  trouble.  Nothing 
had  ever  been  said  or  done  that  could  remove  these  vagaries  from  the  mind  of  this 
unfortunate  woman,  who  would  bark  like  a  dog  and  in  other  ways  attempt  to  imi 
tate  the  actions  of  such  animals.  Having  repeatedly  asserted  that  if  the  pup 
could  be  removed  from  her  stomach  she  knew  she  would  recover  health,  the 
superintendent  resolved  to  work  a  plan  that  might  convince  her  that  the  cruel 
creature  that  had  troubled  her  had  been  taken  away.  A  physician  was  consulted 
and  thought  the  scheme  could  do  no  harm,  and  it  might  do  good.  The  patient  was 
visited,  and  after  listening  to  the  proposition  of  an  attempt  to  relieve  her  of  her 
affliction,  she  consented  to  undergo  the  experiment,  and  agreed  upon  a  future  day 
when  the  doctor  should  attempt  and  make  the  trial.  In  the  meantime  a  pup  was 
procured  and  everything  got  in  readiness,  the  woman  being  led  to  regard  the  un 
dertaking  as  a  very  serious  and  important  one.  She  was  placed  under  the  influence 
of  a  narcotic,  and  the  pup  that  had  been  secured  for  the  occasion  was  given  a  suffi 
cient  quantity  to  keep  it  quiet.  Soon  as  the  patient  began  to  recover  from  the  in 
fluence  of  the  drug  she  vomited,  and  at  the  opportune  moment  the  pupwas  dropped 
into  the  vessel  which  received  the  contents  of  her  stomach.  The  woman  beheld  the 
animal  and  firmly  believed  she  had  thrown  it  up,  and  speedily  reviving  from  the 
effects  of  the  narcotic,  she  wanted  to  feel  and  examine  the  creature  that  had  been, 
as  she  supposed,  ejected  from  her  stomach.  The  animal  recovering  from  the  stupor 
became  quite  frisky,  much  to  the  surprise  and  delight  of  the  poor  patient,  who 
insisted  on  fondling  and  caressing  it,  while  expressing  herself  as  feeling  wonder 
fully  relieved  by  its  removal  and  perfectly  restored  to  health.  She  had  ceased  to  com 
plain,  and  is  entirely  free  from  the  peculiar  hallucination  that  possessed  her,  and 
is  now  as  pleasant  and  quiet  as  any  inmate  in  the  Asylum.  She  guards  with  most 
jealous  care  the  pup  that  had  so  long,  as  she  imagined,  dwelt  within  her,  fearing 
that  if  it  is  not  kindly  treated  it  might  weary  of  its  acquired  freedom  and  manage 
to  return  to  its  human  abode,  and  then  all  her  pain  and  suffering  would  come  back. 
The  cure  that  has  thus  been  effected  is  the  subject  of  much  comment  among  those 
acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  affair." 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA. 


179 


"  Well,"  said  Dr.  Strong,  "  our  best  authorities  on 
insanity  are  more  and  more  leaning  to  moral  treatment." 

"  Doctor,"  said  Mortimer,  "  to  change  the  subject,  I 
think  you  will  have  to  put  me  under  treatment. 
I»studied  too  hard  on  this  case.  My  head  throbs  just 
now  as  if  it  would  burst." 

"  Stop,  right  off,  then,"  said  Dr.  Strong,  "  and  take  a 
vacation." 

Mortimer  answered,  "  I  guess  I  will  do  so,  and  I 
don't  know  of  any  better  place  than  that  quiet  home  of 
the  Hubbards'." 


ISO  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
MORTIMER'S  REVERIE  AND  THE  SPECTRE  HE  BEHELD. 

Mortimer  was  arranging  his  private  papers  before 
going  into  the  country.  In  looking  them  over  he  came 
across  a  package  returned  by  Alice  after  the  final 
break  of  their  engagement.  On  receiving  it  Mortimer 
had  simply  thrown  it  into  a  drawer,  he  being  then  very 
busy  with  a  legal  case.  As  the  package  again  met  his 
eye  he  took  it  out,  and,  while  opening  it,  a  box  dropped 
out  on  the  floor.  It  was  a  small  box  of  sandal-wood, 
exquisitely  carved,  evidently  costly.  Round  it  was 
bound  a  blue  ribbon,  to  which  was  tied  its  tiny  key. 

"Why,"  exclaimed  Mortimer,"!  do  not  remember 
ever  giving  this  to  Alice,  but  I  gave  her  so  many 
things  I  could  easily  have  forgotten  this  one."  He 
turned  it  carefully  over  in  his  hand,  holding  it  before 
the  fire,  and  the  flames,  kindled  afresh  from  the  letters 
he  had  thrown  therein,  cast  a  lurid  glow  over  its 
polished  surface.  "  Queer,  isn't  it,"  thought  Mortimer, 
"  that  I  cannot  remember  ever  giving  such  a  beautiful 
gift  to  Alice.  Verily,  here  one  of  the  laws  of  the 
mind  seems  to  fail,  that  is,  the  power  of  association  in 
refreshing  the  memory. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  iSl 

"  Ah,  how  our  old  professor  of  mental  science  used  to 
harp  on  that  point.  I  can  remember  to-day  his  pet 
definition  as  freshly  as  if  I  had  just  heard  it  from  his 
lips.  '  Gentlemen,'  he  used  to  say,  *  the  principle  of 
association  is  founded  upon  a  remarkable  tendency,  by 
which  two  or  more  facts  or  conceptions,  which  have 
been  contemplated  together,  or  in  immediate  succession, 
become  so  connected  in  the  mind  that  one  of  them  at  a 
future  time  recalls  the  others,  or  introduces  a  train  of 
thoughts,  which,  without  any  mental  effort,  follow  each 
other  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  originally  associ 
ated.'  *  I  can  see  the  old  Prex  rolling  that  off  with 
a  look  as  wise  as  Solomon,  and  then  adding,  '  Gentle 
men,  this  is  called  the  association  of  ideas,  and  various 
phenomena  of  a  very  interesting  kind  are  connected 
with  it.'  Phenomena  of  a  very  interesting  kind  will 
doubtless  be  connected  with  the  opening  of  this  box. 
Let  me  see." 

Mortimer  unlocked  the  box  and  found  a  package 
wrapped  round  with  silver  foil.  Within  was  a  card,  on 
which  were  some  pressed  forget-me-nots.  On  the 
back  of  the  card  wa*s  written  in  Alice's  handwriting, 
"  Geneva,  July  6,  1875." 

"Why,  what  occurred  then  at  Geneva?"  said  Morti 
mer,  thoughtfully.  "  Oh,  I  remember  now.  It  was  the 
week  after  I  was  accepted  by  Alice ;  when  we  visited 
Geneva.  I  purchased  a  bunch  of  forget-me-nots  and 
pinned  them  on  her  bosom,  but  I  did  not  think  she 
cared  enough  for  me  to  preserve  so  carefully  to  this 
day  that  little  gift."  He  held  the  card  in  his  hand  for 

*  Abercrombie's  Intellectual  Philosophy,  page  83. 


1 82  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

some  time.  "  Somehow,"  he  said,  "  I  cannot  throw 
these  into  the  fire.  It  does  seem  sacrilege."  Carefully 
wrapping  them  up  again  and  locking  the  box,  he 
opened  a  secret  drawer  in  his  writing-desk.  While 
doing  so  something  rattled  in  the  drawer.  He  put  in 
his  hand,  and,  taking  it  out,  found  it  to  be  a  photograph 
of  Alice.  "  How  came  I  to  overlook  this  in  making  up 
that  bundle  I  sent  back  to  her?  How  provoking !  " 

He  took  it  out  and  gazed  at  it.  Alice  was  then  in 
full  health,  her  face  was  lit  up  with  the  vivacity  of 
youth.  Her  ruddy  face,  her  soft  blue  eyes,  the  tresses 
falling  over  her  fair  neck,  all  combined  to  make  a 
fascinating  picture.  Mortimer  gazed  intently  at  it. 
The  fire  again  flickered  and  threw  weird  shadows 
around  the  room.  Mortimer  rose  and  paced  up  and 
down. 

"  I  declare,"  he  exclaimed,  "  some  evil  spell  is  upon 
my  mind.  Here  is  a  girl  that  I  have  given  up,  —  given 
up  entirely  —  and  yet  as  I  look  at  that  face  to-day  I 
believe  I  would  not  dare  to  meet  her  again  for  my  own 
safety.  But  that  was  Alice  Dupont  when  I  first  knew  her. 
Well,  she  was  indeed  lovely  then,  and,  if  she  had  only 
character  behind  that  lovely  face,  I  might  still  love  her. 
But  Alice  Dupont  is  a  very  changed  girl ;  now  she  is  a 
peevish,  moping,  inert  bundle  of  flesh  and  bones." 
The  flame  on  the  hearth  flickered  a  little  again.  "  Still, 
she  has  been  sick.  Perhaps  I  ought  to  have  exercised 
more  forbearance.  It  was  rather  hard  to  break  off  our 
engagement  when  she  was  so  weak." 

Mortimer  walked  to  the  door  to  see  that  it  was 
securely  locked,  then,  as  if  addressing  himself,  said, 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  183 

"  William  Mortimer,  this  thing  must  stop !  This  is 
sheer  weakness  and  folly.  I  believe  I  will  hurl  this 
photograph  into  the  fire,"  —  his  hand  was  upraised  — 
"  but  let  me  take  another  look.  Why,  there  on  Alice's 
bosom  are  the  forget-me-nots  which  she  has  now 
returned.  Oh,  yes,  that  brings  it  all  back  again.  I 
remember  now,  after  purchasing  them  at  the  market, 
we  passed  a  photograph  gallery,  and  Alice  looked  so 
radiant  that  morning  I  begged  her  to  have  her  picture 
taken.  We  could  not  wait  for  it  to  be  finished ;  it  was 
sent  to  me  afterward,  and,  in  the  hurry  of  unpacking, 
I  thrust  it  into  that  drawer.  It  does  seem  too  bad  to 
make  a  holocaust  of  these  old  love-tokens.  But  I 
must  keep  them  out  of  my  sight.  Ah,  here  I  have  it !  " 
and,  taking  an  old  cigar-box,  he  constructed  in  the 
back  of  the  drawer  a  separate  apartment,  in  which  he 
put  the  photograph  and  flowers. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  I  have  buried  Alice  Dupont. 
Perchance,  if  I  should  die,  some  one  may  find  these  old 
love-tokens,  but  who  cares?  Dead  men  tell  no  tales, 
and  dead  men  don't  care  what  tales  are  told  about 
them.  But  I  must  have  some  fresh  air.  This  room  is 
intolerably  hot,  and  here  I  have  been  steaming  over 
this  matter  for  an  hour." 

He  put  everything  carefully  to  rights,  donned  his 
summer  overcoat,  and  was  starting  out,  when  he 
exclaimed,  "  I  wonder  whether  I  did  put  those  forget- 
me-nots  in  with  the  package." 

So  he  unscrewed  the  partition,  took  out  the  photo 
graph,  and,  sitting  down  again,  gazed  at  it,  —  how  long 
he  perhaps  did  not  realize  —  but,  as  he  rose  to  put  the 


184  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

package  again  in  the  drawer,  he  glanced  to  the  other 
side  of  the  room  and  there  was  —  Alice  Dupont !  not 
exactly  in  material  form,  but  there  was  a  sort  of  imma 
terial  image  just  like  the  one  in  the  photograph. 
Mortimer  almost  shouted  aloud.  He  pressed  his  hand 
to  his  brow.  "  I  am,"  he  exclaimed,  "  either  in  the 
spirit  world  or  out  of  my  head."  He  looked  again, — 
there  was  the  image  still,  but  fast  fading  away.  He 
rushed  to  the  other  end  of  the  room  to  see  it  more 
distinctly,  but  when  he  got  there  it  had  disappeared ! 

Just  then  a  knock  came  at  the  door,  and  in  walked 
Dr.  Strong.  "  Why,  Mortimer,  what  is  the  matter  with 
you  ? "  exclaimed  the  doctor,  as  he  noticed  the  wild 
look  and  pale  face  of  his  friend. 

"Nothing,"  said  Mortimer,  doggedly. 

"  Oh,  yes,  old  fellow,  something's  up.  Your  mind  is 
hung  outside  your  face  to-day." 

"  Doctor,"  said  Mortimer,  throwing  himself  on  a 
lounge  and  pressing  his  hands  to  his  brow,  "  I  do  not 
know  what  to  make  of  what  I  have  just  seen." 

"When?  what?"  asked  the  doctor,  getting  excited 
himself  at  the  manifest  excitement  of  his  friend. 

"  Doctor,"  said  Mortimer,  with  a  solemn  face,  "  you 
may  not  believe  me,  but  I  am  willing  to  swear  on  the 
Bible  that  I  have  just  seen  standing  in  that  corner  of  the 
room  Alice  Dupont." 

Dr.  Strong  threw  himself  back  in  the  chair,  and  said, 
with  a  burst  of  laughter,  "Ah,  is  that  the  state  of 
affairs?  Why,  I  thought  you  were  cured  of  Alice 
Dupont,  but,  poor  fellow,  you  have  had  a  relapse.  You, 
of  course,  mean  that  you  saw  her  with  your  mind,  not 
with  your  eyes." 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  185 

"  No,"  said  Mortimer,  earnestly,  "  I  saw  Alice 
Dupont  herself  standing  there  in  that  corner." 

Dr.  Strong  cast  an  anxious  glance  at  Mortimer  and 
said,  "  Tell  me  frankly,  had  you  been  looking  at  some 
picture  of  her?" 

"  Yes,  I  confess  I  had." 

"  For  how  long  a  time  ?  " 

"  Only  for  a  few  minutes." 

"  That  could  not  have  been.  Let  us  see,  when  did 
you  begin  to  look  at  that  picture?  " 

"Well,  about  nine  o'clock." 

"  Just  as  I  thought,"  said  the  doctor,  pulling  out  his 
watch.  "  It's  now  about  half  past  ten.  Probably  you 
were  gazing  at  it  for  an  hour." 

"  Well,  how  do  you  account  for  this,  anyway?  "  asked 
Mortimer,  impatiently. 

"  Why,  old  fellow,  you  have  simply  here  what  would 
largely  account  for  all  the  ghosts  which  have  ever  been 
seen  by  mankind.  But  first,"  said  the  doctor,  "  let  me 
examine  your  eyes." 

After  inspecting  them  the  doctor  remarked,  "  There 
is  no  trouble  there,  but  the  reason  I  examined  them 
was  that  illusions  of  this  kind  are  sometimes  due  to 
some  cause  destroying  the  parallelism  of  the  visual 
axes,  like  a  tumor  of  the  orbit,  thus  making  a  person 
see  two  images  instead  of  one.  *  But  your  delusion," 
said  the  doctor,  "belongs  to  the  class  of  false  perceptions 
which  you  spoke  of  in  your  argument  in  the  Simpkins 
case ;  that  is,  by  looking  long  at  any  object,  and  then 
turning  the  eye  in  another  direction,  the  eye  in  certain 

*  Hammond,  on  Nervous  Diseases,  page  325. 


l86  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

states  will  reproduce  that  object.  Dr.  Darwin  made 
various  experiments  of  this  kind.  One  he  thus  relates  : 
'  I  covered  a  paper  about  four  inches  square  with 
yellow,  and,  with  a  pen  filled  with  a  blue  color,  wrote 
upon  the  middle  of  it  the  word  BANKS  in  capitals ; 
and  sitting  with  my  back  to  the  sun,  fixed  my  eyes  for  a 
minute  exactly  on  the  centre  of  the  letter  N  in  the  word. 
After  shutting  my  eyes,  and  shading  them  somewhat 
with  my  hand,  the  word  was  distinctly  seen  in  the 
spectrum  in  yellow  colors  on  a  blue  ground ;  and  then 
on  opening  my  eyes  on  a  yellowish  wall  at  twenty  feet 
distance  the  magnified  name  of  BANKS  appeared  on 
the  wall  written  in  golden  characters.'  Abercrombie 
mentions  a  case  almost  exactly  similar  to  yours.  He 
says  a  friend  of  his  was  one  day  looking  intensely  at  a 
small  print  of  the  Virgin  and  Child,  and  had  sat  bending 
over  it  for  some  time.  On  raising  his  head  he  was 
startled  by  perceiving,  at  the  farther  end  of  the  apart 
ment,  a  female  figure,  the  size  of  life,  with  a  child  in 
her  arms.  The  illusion  continued  distinct  for  about 
two  minutes. 

"  But  there's  another  class  of  these  spectral  illusions, 
where  through  unconscious  construction  of  the  mind  such 
spectres  are  spontaneously  produced.  Sir  John  Her- 
schel,  in  his  'Familiar  Lectures  on  Scientific  Subjects,' 
states  that  he  was  subject  to  the  involuntary  occurrence 
of  visual  impressions,  into  which  geometrical  regularity 
of  forms  entered  as  the  leading  character.  The  fact  is, 
Herschel  was  reproducing  the  subject  of  his  studies. 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  affirms  that  he  was  able  to  recall  a 
spectrum  of  the  sun  by  going  into  the  dark  and  directing 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  187 

his  mind  intensely,  '  as  when  a  man  looks  earnestly  to 
see  a  thing  which  is  difficult  to  be  seen.'  Sir  John 
Brodie,  in  his  '  Psychological  Inquiries/  gives  many 
instances  of  these  spectres  produced  almost  at  will. 
Here  we  have  the  explanation  of  all  that  is  real  in 
spiritualism.  For  example,  a  mother  has  lost  a  child ; 
she  broods  over  its  image  and  finally  gets  it  so  photo 
graphed  on  her  mind  that  she  really  sees  the  image,  as 
Sir  Walter  Scott  saw  that  of  Lord  Byron.  Scott,  in  his 
'  Demonology  and  Witchcraft/  writes  that  having  been 
engaged  in  reading  with  much  interest,  soon  after  the 
death  of  Lord  Byron,  an  account  of  his  habits  and 
opinions,  he  was  the  subject  of  the  following  illusion : 
Passing  from  his  sitting-room  into  the  entrance-hall, 
fitted  up  with  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  armour,  etc.,  he 
saw  right  before  him,  and  in  a  standing  posture,  the 
exact  representation  of  his  departed  friend,  whose 
recollection  had  been  so  strongly  brought  to  his  imagi 
nation.  He  stopped  for  a  single  moment,  so  as  to 
notice  the  wonderful  accuracy  with  which  fancy  had 
impressed  upon  the  bodily  eye  the  peculiarities  of  dress 
and  posture  of  the  illustrious  poet.  Sensible,  however, 
of  the  delusion,  he  felt  no  sentiment  save  that  of  wonder 
at  the  extraordinary  accuracy  of  the  resemblance,  and 
stepped  onward  toward  the  figure,  which  resolved 
itself,  as  he  approached,  into  the  various  materials 
of  which  it  was  composed.  These  were  merely  a  screen 
occupied  by  great-coats,  shawls,  plaids,  and  such  other 
articles  as  are  usually  found  in  a  country  entrance-hall. 
"  Dr.  Hibbert,  the  well-known  psychologist,  relates 
the  following  anecdote  in  his  '  Treatise  on  Apparitions : ' 


l88  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

'  A  whole  ship's  company  was  thrown  into  the  utmost 
consternation  by  the  apparition  of  a  cook  who  had  died 
a  few  days  before.  He  was  distinctly  seen  walking 
ahead  of  the  ship,  with  a  peculiar  gait  by  which  he  was 
distinguished  when  alive,  owing  to  one  of  his  legs 
being  shorter  than  the  other.  On  steering  the  ship 
towards  the  object,  it  was  found  to  be  a  piece  of  floating 
wreck.' " 

"  Do  you  think  that  this  betokens  any  serious  disease 
of  my  brain?"  asked  Mortimer,  anxiously. 

"  No,"  said  the  doctor,  "  but  it  shows  your  brain 
needs  rest." 

"  Well,  I  am  just  waiting  for  an  answer  from  Esther 
Bates  as  to  whether  the  Hubbards  can  give  me  a  room. 
If  so  I  shall  spend  some  weeks  with  them." 

The  next  day  Mortimer  received  the  following  letter: 

WILLIAM  MORTIMER,  ESQ.:  — 

My  dear  friend  :  I  beseech  you  not  to  come  to  this  neighbor 
hood  now;  I  cannot  give  you  the  reason,  but  I  know  if  you  knew 
it  you  would  agree  with  me.  It  is  connected  with  something  I 
have  found  out  about  your  father's  first  wife  and  the  $50,000,  at 
least  I  think  I  have  found  out  something  very  important.  I  will 
write  you  soon  again  or  come  to  New  York  and  explain. 
Your  sincere  friend, 

ESTHER  BATES. 

"  How  provoking!"  exclaimed  Mortimer,  "what  is 
the  matter  with  Esther,  she  has  written  just  enough  to 
raise  my  curiosity.  Well,  I  don't  want  to  offend  so 
good  a  friend  as  Esther ;  I  will  wait  for  a  few  days,  and 
in  the  meanwhile  take  a  trip  to  the  seashore." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    CURIOUS    CASE    OF    MRS.    PAGE    AND    ITS     MORE 
CURIOUS    TREATMENT. 

When  Mrs.  Page  swooned,  she  was  at  once  lifted  to 
her  bed  by  Ruth  and  Esther.  At  first  she  seemed 
to  be  entirely  unconscious,  —  indeed,  Esther  thought 
she  was  dead  —  but  a  slight  twitching  of  the  face  and 
movement  of  the  arm  gave  assurance  that  she  was  still 
alive.  Then  she  passed  into  a  convulsion,  then  into  a 
stupor.  After  her  mother  had  come  out  of  the  stupor, 
Ruth  made  the  terrible  discovery  that  the  mental 
faculties  were  entirely  suspended,  her  only  medium 
of  communication  with  the  external  world  being 
through  the  senses  of  sight  and  touch,  yet,  unless 
touched  by  some  person  or  thing,  she  seemed  lost  to 
everything  passing  around  her.  Mrs.  Page  had  evidently 
•no  knowledge  where  she  was;  she  did  not  recognize 
even  her  own  daughter.*  Her  appetite  was  good,  but 
she  ate  indifferently  whatever  was  offered  her,  as  both 
taste  and  smell  seemed  to  be  dormant.  From  the  first 
moment  of  her  attack  she  lost  her  speech. 

When  this  unexpected   blow  came  upon  Ruth,  she 

*  For  a  similar  case  to  this  see  London  Lancet,  Nov.,  1845, 


190  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

seemed  utterly  bewildered,  but,  soon  regaining  her 
composure,  devoted  herself  unremittingly  to  her  mother. 
It  was  well  that  Ruth's  attention  was  thus  absorbed,  for 
it  kept  her  ignorant  of  a  storm  of  criticism  which  was 
raging  around  her. 

As  soon  as  the  news  of  Mrs.  Page's  swoon  came  to  the 
ears  of  Mr.  Hubbard,  he  saddled  his  horse  and  prepared 
to  go  to  the  village  for  a  doctor.  Esther,  happening 
to  see  him,  ran  out  and  said,  "Where  are  you  going?" 

"To  the  village  for  a  doctor,"  answered  Mr. 
Hubbard. 

"  Well,  let  me  first  ask  Miss  Ruth  what  doctor  she 
would  prefer." 

When  the  question  was  put  to  Ruth,  she  promptly 
answered,  "  None ;  but  please  ask  Mr.  Hubbard  to 
take  this  telegram  to  the  village,  and  I  will  not  trouble 
him  further." 

The  telegram  was  directed  to  a  mind-cure  physician 
in  Boston,  requesting  his  immediate  presence.  Mr. 
Hubbard  flew  off  with  the  telegram,  and  the  next 
morning  the  mind-cure  doctor  arrived.  He  was  a 
very  gentlemanly,  quiet  man,  but  it  surprised  the 
Hubbards  that  he  brought  no  medicines.  His  only 
treatment  of  Mrs.  Page  was  to  sit  by  her  side,  though 
he  was  careful  that  she  should  be  kept  perfectly  quiet 
and  that  the  food  prepared  for  her  should  be  simple 
and  nutritious. 

Esther  drew  Ruth  aside,  and  said,  "  I  hope  you  are 
praying  for  your  mother,  as  I  am,  for  '  the  prayer 
of  faith  shall  heal  the  sick.'  " 

"  I  am  much  in  prayer,"  answered  Ruth,  "  but  it  is 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  191 

rather  to  bring  my  own  heart  into  communion  with 
God  than  to  direct  Him  about  his  treatment  of  this 
case.  I  still  believe  that  God  can  cure  the  sick  without 
the  use  of  medicines." 

The  Hubbards  were  all  up  in  arms.  "  I  never  saw 
such  an  inhuman  act,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Hubbard,  in  great 
wrath.  "  The  idea  of  a  daughter  permitting  her  mother 
to  remain  in  such  a  state  without  medical  treatment ; 
for  I  do  not  call  it  medical  treatment  for  a  man  to  just 
sit  by  the  bedside  of  a  dangerously  sick  woman  and 
look  as  wise  as  Solomon.  Why  doesn't  Miss  Page  send 
for  one  of  the  celebrated  physicians  of  New  York?  " 

"You  are  right,  Rachel,"  chimed  in  her  husband, 
"  and  I  think  also  that  we,  who  pretend  to  be  good 
Methodists,  ought  not  to  harbor  such  people  under  our 
roof.  As  soon  as  Mrs.  Page  is  able  to  be  moved,  I 
shall  clear  them  out." 

Then,  to  the  astonishment  of  all,  the  old  squire 
spoke  up.  The  squire  rarely  said  anything ;  he  usually 
sat  in  his  chair  and  meditated  on  his  Bible,  or  else  took 
a  stroll  over  the  farm.  To  the  astonishment  of  the 
whole  family,  the  squire  burst  out  with,  —  "  You  ought 
to  be  ashamed  of  yourselves.  Leave  that  girl  alone ; 
she's  a  better  Christian  than  you,  judging  from  the 
spirit  you  have  just  manifested.  That  girl  loves  her 
mother ;  she  is  trying  to  do  what  she  thinks  is  best  for 
that  mother.  Leave  that  girl  alone,  I  tell  you,"  said 
the  squire,  in  authoritative  tones. 

" But,  father,"  interposed  Mrs.  Hubbard,  "does  not 
the  Bible  say  that  faith  without  works  is  dead,  and  did 
not  John  Wesley  teach  that  doctrine  ?  Now,  where  are 


192  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

the  works  in  this  case  ?  Ought  not  Miss  Ruth  to  send  for 
a  doctor  who  would  give  her  mother  some  medicine?" 

The  squire  answered,  "  She  is  showing  both  her  faith 
and  works  by  relying  on  God  as  the  Great  Physician, 
and  I  am  willing  to  let  her  try  the  experiment  of  relying 
on  God.  As  for  your  human  doctors,"  continued  the 
squire,  "what  do  they,  after  all,  know  about  the  brain? 
Why,  I  believe  there  are  many  cases  where  doctors 
hasten  the  patient  to  the  grave,  when,  if  nature  had 
been  left  to  take  its  course,  he  might  have  recovered. 
There  was  Sallie  Jones ;  she  went  crazy.  The  doctors 
came  and  shaved  her  head  and  blistered  her  body  till 
she  looked  like  a  plucked  chicken  and  a  roasted  one, 
too.  And  where  is  she  now?  In  the  lunatic  asylum. 
There  was  Tim  Sparks;  he  had  fits,  they  bled  and 
dosed  him,  and  now  he  wriggles  worse  than  an  eel  with 
shaking  palsy. 

"  Do  not  misunderstand  me,"  said  the  squire.  "  I 
recognize  medicines  as  a  provision  of  God  for  the 
healing  of  the  body,  and,  when  properly  used,  they 
often  save  life,  but  I  tell  you  that  the  tendency  of  even 
you  Christians  is  to  make  an  apothecary's  shop  of  your 
stomachs,  and  not  use  your  bodies  as  temples  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  I  further  tell  you,"  said  the  squire, 
now  becoming  somewhat  excited,  "  that  when  a  good 
girl  like  that  Ruth  Page  wants  to  try  God  as  her  doctor 
she  shall  try  him,  and,  if  you  dare  to  turn  her  out  of 
this  house,  you  will  have  to  turn  me  out  with  her." 

The  Htibbards  were  perfectly  astonished,  for  they 
had  never  heard  their  old  father  talk  in  such  a  strain. 
They  began  to  think  that  either  he  was  becoming  crazy 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  193 

or  had  lost  his  heart  with  Ruth,  but,  as  the  squire 
held  the  purse-strings,  they  wisely  held  their  peace. 

After  all,  the  squire  was  not  as  illogical  as  he  seemed. 
Had  he  only  known,  he  might  have  quoted  some  ac 
knowledged  medical  authorities  to  sustain  his  point  — 
that  nature  herself  often  works  a  cure.  Dr.  Carpenter, 
the  noted  physiologist  of  England,  says  that  "  expectant 
attention  has  been  known  to  arrest  the  disorganization 
of  tissue  and  restore  healthful  action."  Dr.  LaRoche  of 
Philadelphia,  in  a  paper  which  attracted  great  attention 
from  American  physiologists,  showed  how  common  it 
was,  in  cases  where  delirium,  lethargy,  etc.,  had  occurred, 
and  had  been  diagnosed  as  owing  to  disturbance  of 
the  function  of  the  brain  through  disorganization, 
etc.,  for  the  mind  to  become  clear,  even  "when  the 
brain  is  greatly  diseased,  when  inflammation  of  the 
coverings  is  present,  even  when  there  is  change  in  the 
brain  substance  itself." 

As  already  stated,  Mrs.  Page's  mind  seemed  to 
remain  in  vacuity.  She  would  open  her  eyes  and  gaze 
around  with  an  idiotic  stare.  After  a  few  days,  the 
mind-doctor  had  the  windows  thrown  open,  and  the 
sudden  light  made  Mrs.  Page  close  her  eyelids.  He 
rang  the  dinner-bell  near  her  bed,  and  it  seemed  to 
disturb  her.  He  loudly  called  her  by  name,  and  her 
lips  moved,  though  without  articulation.  ''These  are 
hopeful  signs,"  said  the  doctor.  "  Her  mind  is  regaining 
its  power." 

But  when  her  mind  came  out  of  this  state  of  idiocy, 
she  passed  into  a  state  of  second-childhood.  She  had 
to  be  fed  with  a  spoon,  though  gradually  she  learned 


194  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

to  feed  herself.  She  would  look  intently  at  Ruth,  and 
then  feel  her,  as  a  blind  person  feels  an  object  he  is 
trying  to  investigate. 

On  the  tenth  day  Esther  asked  for  a  few  moments' 
private  conversation  with  the  mind-cure  doctor. 
4<  Doctor,"  she  said,  "  I  am  anxious  to  know  what  you 
think  of  the  chances  of  Mrs.  Page's  recovery,  and  do 
you  think  she  will  recover  her  mind?  It  is  of  vital 
importance  to  her  and  others  that,  even  if  she  dies,  she 
should  come  to  her  senses  sufficiently  to  answer  some 
questions." 

"  I  will  tell  you  frankly  how  the  case  stands," 
answered  the  doctor.  "  Mrs.  Page  is  now  in  a  state  of 
imbecility.  Her  brain  is  in  what  we  call  suspended 
action.  She  has  lost  her  memory,  or,  rather,  it  is  so 
impaired  that  she  cannot  recollect  anything.  But 
cases  are  not  rare  where  the  former  vigor  of  the  mind 
has  returned,  even  when  the  patient  has  been  for 
months  destitute  of  reasoning  powers.  Some  have  so 
completely  lost  what  they  knew  before,  that  they  had  to 
commence  their  education  over  again,  even  from  the 
alphabet.  There  is,  however,  this  singular  phenomenon 
accompanying  such  conditions,  namely,  that  after  slowly 
acquiring  partial  knowledge,  the  former  knowledge  will 
come  back  as  in  an  instant.*  Give  her  anything  she 
desires  in  the  line  of  food." 

Fortunately,  Esther  followed  the  doctor's  suggestion 
as  to  nourishment.  While  she  had  little  confidence 
in  medicine,  she  had  much  in  food,  "  for,"  she,  argued 
"  after  Christ  had  healed  the  daughter  of  the  ruler  of 

*  See  numerous  examples  of  this  in  Carpenter,  Tuke,  Brodie  and  Abercrombie. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  195 

the  synagogue,  he  commanded  that  something  should 
be  given  her  to  eat."  So  Esther  and  Ruth  devoted 
themselves  to  nourishing  Mrs.  Page,  even  if  they 
did  not  give  her  medicine. 

It  was  a  study  in  psychology  to  watch  the  different 
faculties  of  the  mind  gradually  wheeling  into  line,  and 
resuming  their  normal  positions,  as  if  awaiting  its  final 
rally  for  the  great  effort  to  reconquer  health.  The  first 
to  wheel  into  line  was  the  power  of  association.  Mrs. 
Page  made  no  effort  to  feed  herself,  until  Ruth,  who 
always  showed  her  mother  the  spoon  before  feeding 
her,  fixed  in  her  mind  the  idea  of  feeding  one's  self.  * 
At  first,  Mrs.  Page  tore  in  pieces  all  the  flowers  they 
gave  her,  then  she  began  to  arrange  them  in  patterns. 
They  then  gave  her  patchwork,  and  she  gradually  fell 
into  the  habit  of  assorting  the  colors.  These  little 
incidents  greatly  pleased  the  doctor.  He  said  they 
showed  that  the  mind  was  beginning  to  act  normally, 
for  here  were  exhibited  attention,  discrimination  and  a 
slight  degree  of  order.  When  she  regained  strength 
enough  to  walk  around  the  room,  she  was  much  enter 
tained  by  examining  the  pictures  on  the  wall.  The 
doctor  noticed  this  and  procured  a  series  of  colored 
views.  As  he  sat  by  his  patient,  turning  them  over 
one  by  one,  she  became  as  interested  as  a  child  in  its 
picture-book.  When  her  gaze  fell  on  one  of  the  pic 
tures,  she  became  violently  agitated  and  passed  into  a  fit 
of  spasmodic  rigidity.  A  smile  of  satisfaction  was  on 
the  doctor's  face.  "  I  thought  so,"  said  he,  "  the  cloud 
on  her  mind  is  lifting.  You  will  soon  find  her  better." 

*  See  similar  case  in  L,ondon  Lancet,  Nov.,  1845. 


196  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

The  doctor  beckoned  Ruth  apart  and  said,  "  I  have 
tried  an  experiment  which  has  resulted  as  I  anticipated," 
and  he  showed  her  the  picture  which  had  so  affected 
her  mother.  It  was  that  of  a  mother  and  her  daughter. 
"  I  noticed,"  added  the  doctor,  "  the  intense  affection 
you  have  for  your  mother,  and  had  no  doubt  that  it 
was  fully  reciprocated.  I  have  touched  the  spring  and 
the  mind  responds." 

The  doctor's  prognosis  proved  correct.  Mrs.  Page 
gradually  improved  until  she  was  herself  again,  with  one 
exception  —  she  did  not  remember  anything  connected 
with  the  commencement  of  her  attack.  Ruth  gently 
hinted  at  the  subject  of  their  previous  conversation,  but 
her  mother  did  not  seem  to  remember  it.  She  only 
remembered  being  taken  sick  while  talking  with  Ruth. 
She  even  forgot  that  Esther  was  then  with  them.  "  This 
is  not  at  all  wonderful,"  said  the  doctor,  "  many  similar 
cases  are  on  record.  But,"  added  he,  "  I  think  it  is 
necessary  to  give  her  a  shock  of  some  kind,  for  then 
one  of  two  effects  will  result  —  either  it  will  plunge  her 
into  delirium,  or  else  recall  the  whole  past." 

"Would  you  think  it  wise,  then,"  inquired  Ruth 
anxiously,  "  to  now  try  the  experiment  of  a  shock?  " 

"  I  would  wait  a  little  while,"  answered  the  doctor, 
"  something  may  occur  in  the  providence  of  God  to 
produce  this  shock." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
MORTIMER'S  SUDDEN  APPEARANCE  ON  THE  SCENE. 

Mortimer,  after  his  trip  to  the  seashore,  had  spent  a 
month  in  the  Adirondacks.  All  this  time  he  was  burning 
with  impatience  to  hear  from  Esther,  for  not  a  single 
line  had  she  written  to  him.  At  last  he  determined, 
notwithstanding  Esther's  injunction  to  the  contrary, 
to  stop  at  Falkill  on  his  return  home. 

The  Pages  and  Esther  were  sitting  on  the  porch  — 
Mrs.  Page  having  recovered  sufficiently  to  leave  her 
sick-room,  though  her  memory  was  not  yet  regained. 
While  engaged  in  conversation,  a  boy  from  the  village 
appeared,  with  a  note  for  Esther.  It  was  from  Mor 
timer,  saying  that  he  was  at  the  village  hotel  and 
must  see  Esther  at  once.  Before  starting  for  the  village, 
Esther  drew  Ruth  aside  and  told  her  of  Mortimer's 
being  there.  "  How  unfortunate  !  "  exclaimed  Ruth. 

"  Not  at  all,"  answered  Esther,  "  I  tried  to  keep  him 
from  coming  here,  but  God  knew  better;  and,  Ruth," 
she  added,  "  suppose  I  have  to  tell  all  that  we  have 
discovered  to  Mr.  Mortimer,  what  are  your  own  desires 
about  being  recognized  by  him  as  his  half-sister?" 

Ruth  drew  herself  up  with  dignity  and  said,  "  I  will 


198  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

never  ask  Mr.  Mortimer  to  acknowledge  me  as  a 
relation ;  I  am  too  proud  to  ask  any  favors  of  him." 

"  Ruth,"  said  Esther,  "  pride  is  a  very  great  sin ;  I 
do  not  blame  you  for  self-respect,  but  I  do  for  talking 
about  being  '  too  proud.'  As  soon  as  you  get  proud, 
God  will  humble  you." 

"Well,"  said  Ruth,  with  a  sigh,  "I  am  sure  I  have  had 
enough  to  humble  me,  and  to  make  me  lie  low  at  His 
feet ;  here  am  I  without  a  relative,  except  my  mother, 
and  I  sometimes  fear  she  will  not  be  long  spared ;  the 
only  friend  I  can  lean  on  is  yourself,  Esther." 

"  Then  lean  on  me  in  this  matter,"  said  Esther,  "  I 
will  tell  Mr.  Mortimer  all,  but  you  can  trust  me  not  to 
sacrifice  any  interest  of  yours." 

"  I  do  not  object,"  said  Ruth,  "  to  this,  but  there  is 
one  point  in  regard  to  which  my  purpose  is  immovable, 
namely,  to  have  no  personal  communication  with  Mr. 
Mortimer  until  I  have  found  legal  proofs  that  I  am 
his  half-sister,  and,  even  then,  he  must  be  the  first  to 
propose  a  recognition  of  the  relationship ;  and,  Esther, 
promise  me  solemnly  this,  that  you  will  use  every 
means  to  keep  Mr.  Mortimer  from  meeting  me  till  those 
proofs  are  afforded." 

"  I  promise,"  said  Esther,  and  sealing  her  promise 
with  a  kiss  she  left  Ruth  and  sped  to  the  village. 

"Esther,  what  does  all  this  mean?"  demanded 
Mortimer,  as  he  met  her  in  the  private  parlor  of  the 
hotel ;  "  I  have  waited  two  months,  and  though  you 
have  excited  my  curiosity  you  have  not  appeased  it  by 
even  one  line." 

"  William,"  said  Esther,  calmly,  "  I  did  write  you  a 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  199 

month  ago,  and  asked  you  to  make  an  appointment  to 
meet  me  in  New  York." 

"  I  never  received  the  letter,"  said  Mortimer,  now  a 
little  mollified. 

"  Then  it  was  simply  through  God's  providence  that 
you  did  not,"  said  Esther,  "  He  wanted  you  to  come 
here  just  at  this  time  and  in  this  way;  I  already  see  an 
answer  to  my  prayers." 

"  Well,  then,  do  not  keep  me  in  suspense,  but  tell  all 
you  know  about  this  supposed  discovery  of  yours." 

Now  occurred  one  of  those  singular  freaks  of  the 
mind  which  often  perplex  us,  yet  which  prove  how 
completely  we  are  at  the  mercy  of  our  mind's  condition. 
Before  Esther  met  Mortimer,  she  had  carefully  planned 
out  what  she  wanted  to  say,  had  it  all  arranged,  even 
to  the  wording  of  the  final  sentence.  But,  to  her 
surprise,  as  in  a  moment,  it  fled  from  her  memory,  or 
rather,  it  lay  there  in  such  a  jumbled  condition  that  she 
could  not  arrange  it  in  any  logical  order.  Esther 
looked  so  helpless  that  Mortimer,  realizing  he  must 
come  to  her  aid,  kindly  said,  "  Sister  Esther,  I  see 
it  all ;  you  have  something  to  tell  me  which  you  are 
afraid  to  divulge  lest  it  should  distress  me.  Now,  don't 
be  afraid  to  tell  me  all." 

"  I  am  not  afraid  to  tell  you  all,"  said  Esther,  dole 
fully,  "  if  I  only  knew  how  to  go  about  it.  I  suppose 
you  will  hardly  believe  me,  William,  but  I  have 
forgotten  just  what  I  wanted  to  say." 

Mortimer  took  in  the  situation  and  answered,  "  Esther, 
let  me  give  you  a  starting-point.  You  remember  that 
you  wrote  about  having  discovered  the  reason  of  the 
payment  of  that  $50,000." 


2OO  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"Ah,  yes,"  said  Esther,  pressing  her  hand  to  her 
brow,  "  now  I  have  it,"  for  somehow  the  missing  link 
reunited  the  whole  chain  of  memory,  and  her  plan  for 
divulging  the  secret  to  Mortimer  came  back  with 
orderly  precision. 

"  William,"  she  began,  "  I  want  you.  to  listen  to  me 
calmly,  as  I  have  something  to  divulge  which  affects 
not  only  yourself  but  others.  You  already  know  that 
your  father  had  another  wife,  that  he  was  divorced  from 
her,  and  that  he  paid  her  at  the  time  of  her  divorce 
$50,000." 

"Yes,"  said  Mortimer,  "these  facts  seem  clearly 
established." 

"  I  have  now  found  out,"  continued  Esther,  "  that 
first  wife  is  still  living." 

"  Oh,  no  !  "  exclaimed  Mortimer,  "  I  hope  you  are 
deceived,  Esther." 

"Wait  and  hear  me,"  said  Esther,  "I  have  not  only 
found  this  out,  but  have  met  her." 

"When?" 

"Wait,  —  you  promised  to  let  me  tell  my  story  in 
my  own  way." 

"Well,  tell  it  then,"  said  Mortimer,  with  a  sigh, 
settling  himself  down  into  forced  composure. 

"  This  first  wife,"  continued  Esther,  "  left  your  father 
in  great  wrath ;  indeed,  they  parted  with  such  mutual 
dislike  that  each  tried  to  blot  out  the  knowledge  of  the 
other's  existence ;  she  went  to  San  Francisco  and  stayed 
there  till  a  few  years  ago,  and  has  lately  come  back 
here." 

"  Oh,  Esther,"  broke  in  Mortimer,  "  your  kind  heart 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  2OI 

has  been  imposed  on,  some  miserable  creature  has 
found  out  about  this  first  marriage  of  my  father,  and  is 
planning  to  extort  money  from  me,  by  personating  his 
first  wife." 

"You  there  very  much  mistake,"  replied  Esther, 
"this  lady  is  independently  rich,  and,  so  far  from 
wanting  to  have  anything  to  do  with  you,  would  like  to 
put  the  ocean  between  you  and  herself  for  the  rest  of 
her  life." 

"Well,  why  not  let  her  do  it,  then?  "  said  Mortimer. 

Esther  paused  and  put  her  hand  to  her  eyes,  as  if  in 
prayer.  Mortimer  watched  her.  He  saw  there  was 
something  yet  to  come,  and  he  waited  impatiently  for 
Esther  to  go  on.  At  last  she  said,  "  There  is  some  one 
else  in  this  case,  for  I  have  found  out  that  this  first  Mrs. 
Mortimer  had  a  child  by  your  father,  and  that  the 
child  still  lives." 

"  Impossible !  "  burst  in  Mortimer,  "  I  tell  you, 
Esther,  some  one  has  been  imposing  on  you  ;  don't  you 
know  how  carefully  I  inquired  about  that  very  point? 
every  one  who  knew  my  father,  said  he  had  no  child  by 
his  first  wife." 

"  The  reason  of  that  impression,"  said  Esther,  "  was 
this  —  the  child  was  not  born  until  five  months  after  the 
first  Mrs.  Mortimer  left  Grasslands;  it  was  born  in 
Chicago,  and  it  was  to  support  that  very  child  that  your 
father  gave  that  $50,000  to  Mrs.  Mortimer." 

"  Why  was  it  not,  then,  so  stated  in  the  writ  of 
divorce  ?  "  asked  Mortimer. 

"  Because  Mrs.  Mortimer  wanted,  as  I  told  you,  to 
blot  out  the  memory  of  your  father,  so  she  retook  her 


2O2  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

maiden  name,  and  the  child  was  called  by  that  name, 
and  until  lately  never  knew  that  its  father  was  also  your 
father." 

"  Is  this  child  a  son  or  a  daughter?  "  asked  Mortimer. 

"  A  daughter." 

"  Oh,  how  unfortunate  !  "  exclaimed  Mortimer,  "  here 
is  some  miserable  woman  who  will  be  claiming  me  as 
her  half-brother;  Esther,  cannot  you  get  them  to  go 
away?  I  do  not  want  this  thing  to  be  the  subject  of 
gossip,  I  have  suffered  enough  already  from  gossips." 

"  William  Mortimer,"  said  Esther,  "  you  might  well 
be  proud  to  own  that  daughter  as  your  half-sister; 
indeed,  she  is  the  one  who  should  rather  scorn  you." 

"  Scorn  me  !  "  exclaimed  Mortimer,  "  why,  what 
have  I  ever  done  to  her?  " 

"  Nothing,"  answered  Esther,  "  but  your  father  put 
away  her  mother  for  a  cause  which  the  Bible  does  not 
recognize  as  a  just  cause  for  divorce,  and  the  Bible  says 
that  whosoever  thus  putteth  away  his  wife  and  marrieth 
another  himself  commits  adultery;  according  then  to 
the  Bible,  this  daughter  is  the  only  lawfully  born  child 
of  your  father." 

"  Esther,"  said  Mortimer,  now  thoroughly  angry,  "  I 
won't  take  that,  even  from  you." 

"  Then  take  it  from  God,"  answered  Esther. 

If  she  had  been  a  man,  Mortimer  would  have  felled 
her  to  the  floor,  but  though  thus  outraged  in  feeling  he 
could  not  help  respecting  Esther's  evident  conscien 
tiousness.  Restraining  himself,  he  said,  coldly,  "  I 
have  no  doubt  of  your  intention  to  act  rightly  in  all 
this,  but  I  do  believe  you  have  been  grievously 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  203 

deceived,  and  had  I  known  that  all  this  mystery  was 
about  so  ridiculous  a  story  I  would  not  have  come  hither. 
I  will  now  have  to  ask  you  to  leave  me,  Esther,  I  shall 
have  nothing  more  to  do  with  this  matter.  I  defy  this 
woman  and  her  daughter  to  worm  money  out  of  me  on 
such  a  flimsy  yarn;  I  am  a  lawyer  and  can  defend 
myself  and  my  father's  memory  from  their  outrageous 
insinuations.  You  can  go,  Esther;  good-bye." 

But  Esther  Bates  calmly  kept  her  seat.  "William 
Mortimer,"  she  said,  "  I  am  here  to  induce  you  to  do 
your  duty,  and  if  you  kill  me  I  will  not  depart.  I  don't 
care  for  your  hating  me,  so  that  your  soul  is  saved ; 
but  I  tell  you,  you  cannot  have  your  soul  saved  if  you 
propose  to  neglect  any  claim  on  you,  which  God  has  in 
His  providence  established.  You  utterly  mistake  this 
mother  and  daughter,  if  you  think  they  have  any 
blackmailing  scheme.  I  have  just  left  the  daughter; 
she  refuses  even  to  see  you  until  her  relationship  can 
be  established  by  legal  proofs,  and  even  then  she 
refuses  to  see  you  unless  you  shall  make  the  first 
advance  to  have  that  relationship  recognized." 

"  Refuses  even  to  see  me,"  said  Mortimer,  now  be 
coming  interested,  "  why,  she  must  be  a  highflier." 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  by  that  word,"  said 
Esther,  "  but  when  I  tell  you  who  that  daughter  is,  I 
think,  from  what  you  know  of  her  already,  you  will 
see  —  " 

"Why,  Esther,  do  you  mean  that  I  have  ever  met 
her,  tell  me  at  once  her  name." 

"You  have  not  only  met  her,  but  admired  her; 
thank  God,  not  as  a  lover,  but  as  a  lady  you  could  not 
help  respecting." 


204  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"  Why,  Esther  Bates,  I  believe  you  are  crazy,  what 
has  come  over  you,  and  why  don't  you  tell  me  her 
name  at  once?  " 

"  Because,"  said  Esther,  with  provoking  coolness,  "  I 
want  you  first  to  solemnly  promise  that  you  will  not 
attempt  to  discover  her  until  she  is  able  to  produce 
legal  proofs  of  her  relationship  to  you." 

"  I  will  promise  no  such  thing,"  said  Mortimer,  "  I 
want  to  know  who  this  woman  and  her  daughter  are." 

"  Well,  then,  good-bye,"  said  Esther,  rising  to  leave. 

But  now  Mortimer  was  as  anxious  to  keep  Esther  as 
he  had  been  to  expel  her  from  his  presence.  Planting 
himself  between  her  and  the  door  he  said,  "  Esther 
Bates,  you  shall  not  leave  this  room  till  you  have  told 
me  that  girl's  name." 

"  Then,"  said  Esther,  calmly  taking  her  seat,  "  I  will 
stay  here  all  night." 

But  Mortimer  knew  that  would  never  do.  He  tried 
to  coax  Esther,  but  she  was  firm.  At  last  Mortimer 
said,  "  Esther,  I  surrender,  I  will  solemnly  promise 
what  you  ask." 

"  Solemnly,  in  the  sight  of  God?  "  asked  Esther. 

"  Yes." 

"  Then  be  seated,  for  I  want  you  to  calm  yourself." 

"  Oh,  you  provoking  woman,  tell  me  quickly." 

"Well,"  said  Esther,  slowly  and  deliberately,  "  the 
name  of  that  daughter  is  Ruth." 

"  Ruth  !  "  said  Mortimer,  pondering,  "  whom  have  I 
ever  known  by  that  name?  Why,  Esther,"  and  he 
looked  wildly  at  her,  "  you  certainly  don't  mean  Miss 
Ruth  Page?" 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  205 

"Yes,  though  her  right  name  is    Ruth  Mortimer." 

"  My  God  !  "  exclaimed  Mortimer,  completely  over 
whelmed.  He  covered  his  face  and  bowed  his  head. 
When  he  lifted  it  up  again  he  found  Esther  on  her 
knees  in  prayer. 

She  remained  thus  some  time,  finally  rose,  and,  going 
to  Mortimer,  put  her  hand  on  his  shoulder,  and  said, 
"  William  Mortimer,  what  do  you  propose  to  do  about 
all  this?" 

Mortimer  answered,  "  In  such  an  important  matter  I 
must  have  time  to  think." 

"  Yes,"  added  Esther,  "  and  to  pray.  And  now, 
William,  let  me  ask  you  to  leave  here  immediately. 
Miss  Ruth  is  in  this  neighborhood,  and  I  am  afraid  that 
you  might  accidentally  meet." 

"  I'll  take  the  early  morning  train,"  said  Mortimer, 
"  but  before  we  part,  Esther,  tell  me  frankly  and  truly 
all  you  think  you  have  found  out  about  this  matter." 

Esther  then  detailed  every  circumstance  connected 
with  the  discovery  of  the  relationship,  with  which  the 
reader  has  been  already  informed.  Mortimer  was 
deeply  interested,  but  he  said,  and  evidently  with 
feelings  of  regret,  "  If  Mrs.  Page  has  lost  that  paper, 
I  am  afraid  this  can  never  be  established.  Still,  Esther, 
you  are  right;  it  was  a  providence  that  brought  me 
here.  I  will  at  once  search  out  this  matter,  and,  as  a 
lawyer,  I  know  how  to  go  about  it  better  than  the 
ladies.  I  do  not  give  up  hope  of  finding  at  least  one 
of  the  witnesses.  But  before  we  part,  Esther,  I  want 
to  beg  your  pardon  for  the  way  I  have  behaved." 

"  No  need  of  that,  William ;    it  was  all  very  natural, 


206  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

and  I  knew  God  could  make  you  behave  right  at  last," 
and  she  folded  Mortimer  in  her  motherly  embrace  and 
gave  him  the  kiss  of  peace. 

Mortimer  did  not  sleep  much  that  night.  He  was 
struggling  as  a  man  struggles  with  various  inclina 
tions.  The  more  he  thought  about  Ruth,  the  more  he 
felt  inclined  to  acknowledge  the  relationship.  How 
he  would  like  to  have  just  such  a  sister  to  counsel  and 
cheer  him,  now  that  he  was  without  father  or  mother, 
and  now  that  his  former  ties  with  Alice  Dupont  were 
broken !  He  could  then  spend  the  rest  of  his  life 
unmarried,  for  his  sister  could  keep  house  for  him,  and 
what  a  pleasant  home  they  might  have  together  !  But 
then,  there  was  Mrs.  Page.  He  would  probably  have 
to  take  her  also  to  his  home.  He  knew  nothing  of  this 
lady;  she  might  prove  the  most  disagreeable  of 
acquaintances.  Then,  what  would  society  say?  It 
would  be  inclined  to  regard  this  story  of  their  lately 
discovered  relationship  as  an  incredible  romance,  and 
so  many  explanations  would  have  to  be  made.  Still, 
Ruth  was  a  sister  of  whom  any  man  might  be  proud, 
and  her  whole  position  in  this  matter  only  increased 
Mortimer's  respect  for  her,  and  made  him  believe  there 
might  be  something  in  this  story.  Mortimer  tossed  on 
his  bed  while  balancing  in  his  mind  the  pros  and  cons 
of  the  whole  affair.  At  last  he  exclaimed,  "  I  solemnly 
vow  before  God  that  I  will  use  every  means  to  inves 
tigate  this  matter,  and,  if  this  story  be  proven  to  be 
true,  I  will  own  Ruth  as  my  sister."  Then,  for  the  first 
time,  for  hours,  his  mind  became  calm  and  he  fell 
asleep. 


OR     THE    NEW    HYGEIA. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

ALICE  DUPONT  APPEARS   WITH   A  NEW  CHARACTER. 

What  has  become  of  Alice  Dupont?  Perchance  the 
reader  has  asked  that  question,  wondering  that  some 
hints  were  not  given  of  the  fate  of  this  harshly  treated, 
badly  used  and  sorrowful  young  lady.  A  pause  must 
then  be  made  here  to  give  a  few  chapters  in  her 
biography,  lest  the  reader's  mind  should  publish  a 
wrong  edition.  For,  mark  you,  gentle  reader,  this 
psychological  fact,  that  while  perusing  a  story  you 
unconsciously  pirate  the  author's  copyright,  by  forming 
in  your  mind  a  picture  of  what  the  actors  in  the  plot 
ought  to  do,  and  you  get  very  angry  with  the  author  if 
in  the  denouement  he  does  not  treat  them  as  you  have 
in  your  piratical  edition.  This  peculiar  action  of  the 
mind  has  been  named  by  our  physiologists,  —  "Un 
conscious  Action  of  Mechanism  of  Thought,"  —  which 
sheds  as  much  light  on  the  subject,  as  a  tallow  candle 
in  the  hand  of  "  Liberty  Enlightening  the  World " 
would  on  the  harbor  of  New  York.  The  truth  is  that 
no  one  can  think  for  another ;  here  the  creating  divinity 
of  thought  within  us  asserts  its  prerogative.  One  mind 
can  indeed  suggest  to  another  mind,  but  there  it  stops ; 


2O8  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

the  individual  mind  may,  indeed,  chameleon-like,  take 
a  momentary  color  from  surrounding  objects,  but 
sooner  or  later  will  return  to  its  individuality  of  thought. 
Hence,  however  the  mind-curer  may  influence  for  a 
time  another  mind,  by  the  purity  and  intelligence  of  his 
own,  yet  he  cannot  produce  a  permanent  effect,  unless 
the  mind  of  the  patient  is  in  a  proper  sanitary  condition. 
As  we  understand  Christian  Science,  its  true  apostles 
recognize  this  fact. 

But  to  return  to  the  case  of  Miss  Alice  Dupont. 
One  might  have  supposed  that  the  mind-cure  treatment 
of  her  mother  would  prove  but  temporary  in  its 
benefits.  This  is  the  great  argument  of  the  anti-mind- 
curers.  "  Allow,"  they  say,  "  that  the  power  of  an  idea 
can  be  correlated  into  a  physical  force,  and  the  lame 
be  thus  made  to  walk,  yet  after  the  excitement  of  the 
new  idea  subsides  the  patient  must  relapse,  just  as  the 
idea  that  a  house  is  on  fire  may  stimulate  a  bed-ridden 
patient  to  run  out  of  the  door,  but  as  soon  as  his  fears 
are  relieved  he  becomes  bed-ridden  again."  Now,  as 
the  author  is  not  defending  mind-cureism,  he  might 
safely  leave  this  argument  to  be  answered  by  its  modern 
apostles.  But,  as  to  the  ability  of  a  strong  mental 
impression  to  produce  a  permanent  cure,  he  calls 
attention  to  the  fact  that  such  physiologists,  as  Carpenter 
and  Tuke,  cite  many  cases  where  a  strong  mental 
impression,  once  directed  to  the  body,  has  resulted  in  a 
permanent  cure  of  the  disease  with  which  that  body 
was  then  affected. 

Please,  then,  gentle  reader,  before  you  paint  your 
own  mental  picture  of  Miss  Alice  Dupont's  future, 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  209 

allow  yourself  to  be  introduced  to  a  blooming  young 
lady,  "  a  fair  and  radiant  maiden,"  riding  over  the  hills 
and  valleys  of  Scotland,  accompanied  by  a  bright, 
dashing,  Scottish  lord  of  interminable  pedigree,  said  to 
be  the  heir  of  a  Lord  Dalrousie;  said  heir  being  very 
anxious  to  ally  his  name  and  title  to  the  rich  daughter 
of  the  several-times-millionaire,  Mr.  Dupont.  If  Wil 
liam  Mortimer  could  see  Alice  Dupont  now,  with  those 
sparkling  eyes  and  that  sweet  face  which  has  turned 
many  a  Scottish  laddie's  heart,  he  might  experience 
feelings  of  regret  that  he  had  been  so  hasty.  Well, 
not  to  detain  the  reader,  let  it  be  stated  that  after 
Mrs.  Dupont's  judicious  mind-cure  treatment  of  her 
daughter,  as  narrated  in  a  previous  chapter,  Alice 
became  a  new  girl.  One  taunt  hurled  at  her  by 
Mortimer,  in  their  parting  interview,  was,  "  that  she 
lacked  in  character"  (which,  unhappily,  was  backed 
by  her  own  behavior  on  that  memorable  occasion),  had 
been  like  the  setting  up  in  her  brain  of  an  electric 
battery,  electrifying  her  mind  with  the  current  of  a  new 
purpose,  which  gave  forth  its  healing  shocks  whenever 
memory  re-established  the  circuit.  One  dominant  idea 
took  possession  of  Alice,  namely,  to  prove  to  society  in 
general,  and  William  Mortimer  in  particular,  that  she 
was  not  a  weak,  hysterical  girl — that  she  had  character. 
If  some  one  had  appeared  and  offered  Alice  the  chance 
of  going  as  a  missionary  to  the  Cannibal  Islands,  or 
had  even  presented  a  martyr's  pile  for  her  to  mount, 
she  would  have  deemed  herself  equal  to  the  occasion. 
But  as  neither  Cannibal  Islands  nor  martyr  piles  offered 
themselves,  she  did  a  much  more  sensible  thing  — 


2IO  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

devote  herself  to  being  as  useful  and  agreeable  as 
possible.  Her  flirtation  with  Mr.  John  Parks,  however, 
was  soon  ended.  Mr.  Parks  proved  rather  insipid, 
while  Miss  Alice  so  visibly  revealed  her  ennui  that  his 
pride  became  offended,  and  as  is  usually  the  case  with 
matches  prearranged  by  parents,  the  very  efforts  to 
foster,  tend  to  prevention. 

Mr.  Dupont,  having  occasion  to  visit  Paris,  invited 
his  wife  and  daughter  to  accompany  him,  which 
invitation  was  promptly  accepted,  since  they  were  glad 
for  the  present  to  be  out  of  the  gossip  of  New  York. 
Having  met  a  young  lord  —  Dalrousie,  on  the  steamer, 
and  the  father  of  said  lord  having  ascertained  that 
Mr.  Dupont  was  one  of  the  rich  men  of  New  York,  he 
therefore  encouraged  his  son  and  only  heir,  Robert,  to 
pay  attention  to  Miss  Dupont.  The  son  was  red-headed, 
gawky,  and  altogether  rude  of  speech,  yet  he  was 
rather  an  agreeable  change  to  Alice  from  Mr.  Parks. 
When,  however,  the  heir  of  Dalrousie  fell  desperately 
in  love  with  the  American  heiress  and  began  to  give 
some  hints  thereof,  Alice  shook  him  off  as  a  lady  would 
brush  a  fly  from  her  dress ;  she  no  longer  needed  any 
one  to  lean  upon,  she  could  manage  her  own  affairs, 
even  those  of  the  heart.  "  Beside,"  she  said  to  herself, 
"have  I  not  had  enough  of  men,  they  are  all  vanity 
and  vexation  of  spirit ;  I  will  remain  fancy-free  for  the 
present  at  least."  But  Mr.  Dupont  and  the  Lord 
of  Dalrousie  thought  differently;  they  had  laid  their 
heads  together — Mr.  Dupont  being  perfectly  willing 
that  his  daughter  should  marry  a  prospective  lord,  and 
the  lord  that  his  son  should  marry  an  American  heiress 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  211 

—  Mr.  Dupont  accepted  the  invitation  of  Lord  Dalrousie 
to  visit  him  at  Balnagorwan  Castle.  This  was  rather 
premature,  as  Mr.  Dupont  had  not  consulted  either 
wife  or  daughter.  The  former  at  once  acquiesced,  the 
latter  decidedly  demurred.  "  Why,"  said  Mr.  Dupont, 
speaking  of  it  to  his  wife,  "  I  never  saw  such  a  change 
as  has  passed  over  Alice.  I  formerly  needed  only  to 
say,  '  Alice,  my  love,  do  so-and-so '  and  she  would 
yield  at  once  to  my  wishes.  Now  she  is  as  stubborn  as 
possible,  I  really  believe  she  will  not  go  with  us  to 
Balnagorwan  Castle." 

"  She  is  not  stubborn,"  replied  Mrs.  Dupont,  "  Alice 
has  refused  the  young  lord,  this  makes  it  extremely 
awkward  for  her  to  visit  under  his  father's  roof;  could 
we  not  compromise  the  matter  by  staying  at  the  Inn  in 
the  neighboring  town?" 

Thus  it  was  arranged.  The  young  laird  persisted  in 
his  attentions,  which  gave  Alice  a  difficult  role  to  fill, 
but  she  managed  not  to  offend  the  young  suitor,  yet  at 
the  same  time  accepted  so  many  invitations  from  other 
lairds  that  she  had  a  bevy  of  admirers.  The  beautiful 
young  heiress  from  America  became  the  cause  of 
several  encounters  among  her  rival  suitors.  Somehow 
Alice  began  to  tire  of  the  attention  of  the  Scottish 
youths,  and,  when  Lord  Dalrousie  and  Mr.  Dupont 
discovered  there  was  no  prospect  of  success  to  their 
match-making,  Mr.  Dupont  hurried  on  to  Paris,  leaving 
as  the  only  memorial  of  his  family's  visit  several 
broken-hearted  young  men  who  took  vows  of  perpetual 
celibacy,  which,  however,  they  soon  forgot  and  ignored, 
as  is  the  manner  of  all  youths,  whether  they  be  Scotch 
men  or  Yankees. 


212  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

So  much  for  the  mental  transformation  of  Alice 
Dupont ;  now  for  the  moral.  The  only  thing  for  which 
Alice  remembered  Ruth  gratefully  was  the  new  view 
Ruth  had  given  her  of  the  love  of  God.  Over  this 
Alice  pondered  until  she  saw  that  here  was  a  power 
she  had  little  understood  and  still  less  utilized.  In 
reflecting  over  the  time  wasted  on  flirtations  in  the 
Scottish  highlands,  she  realized  that,  to  redeem  her 
reputation  for  character,  she  must  first  reform  her 
do-nothing,  self-pleasing  and  insipid  methods  of  exist 
ence.  While,  therefore,  Miss  Alice  Dupont  left  some 
broken  hearts  behind  her  in  Scotland,  she  herself 
carried  to  Paris  a  burdened  conscience. 

At  this  juncture  she  fell  in  with  a  pious  American 
girl  who  was  deeply  interested  in  the  McCall  mission. 
This  companion,  Miss  Constance  Savage,  induced 
Alice  to  visit  one  of  their  meeting-places.  Here 
Alice  beheld  with  wonder  and  interest  the  humble 
workmen  listening  to  the  story  of  the  cross  and  the 
wonderful  effect  it  had  on  their  hearts  and  lives.  She 
frequently  slipped  off  with  Miss  Savage  to  attend 
these  meetings.  One  day  the  subject  of  the  speaker's 
discourse  was  "  The  Love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  our 
Lord."  As  he  spoke  of  the  manifestation  of  that  love 
in  God  sending  His  Son,  and  of  the  Saviour's  love  in 
dying  for  our  redemption,  of  His  infinite  compassion  to 
the  sin-burdened  and  heart-sore,  Alice  broke  down  and 
wept  like  a  child.  To  the  surprise  of  Constance,  she 
remained  behind  when  an  invitation  was  given  to 
any  who  wished  to  talk  with  the  minister  about  the 
salvation  of  their  souls. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  213 

Alice  took  her  seat  between  a  poor  fishwoman 
and  flower  girl,  and  waited  to  be  talked  with  by  the 
minister.  The  minister  himself  was  surprised  to  see 
this  richly  dressed  American  lady  in  that  place,  but 
with  a  wise  tact,  having  first  conversed  with  the  fish- 
woman  and  flower  girl,  and  sent  them  away,  he  entered 
into  conversation  with  Alice.  He  talked  with  her  kindly 
and  she  to  him  freely,  and,  as  she  poured  out  the 
penitence  of  her  heart  for  what  she  considered  her  past 
useless  life,  guided  her  to  Him  who  could  not  only 
sympathize  but  regenerate. 

Her  parents  soon  noticed  a  change  in  their  daughter ; 
she  lost  her  taste  for  the  grand  opera.  What  was  the 
matter?  Mr.  Dupont  made  a  quiet  investigation  and 
tracked  his  daughter  to  the  McCall  mission,  where,  to  his 
horror,  he  found  her  among  its  most  active  workers. 
A  scene  ensued.  Mr.  Dupont  for  the  first  time  swore 
at  Alice  (though  he  had  often  practised  before  on  his 
clerks.)  "  I  will  stand  anything  from  you,"  he  said, 
"except  this.  I  did  not  object  even  to  your  being 
intimate  with  a  mind-curer,  but  this  consorting  with  the 
very  canaille,  who  pray  and  sing  psalms  and  claim  to 
be  converted, — this  is  the  last  straw  to  break  the  camel's 
back.  Alice,  pack  your  trunk  immediately;  we  return 
home  to-morrow,  via  London." 

Alice  answered  not  a  word,  though  her  face  flushed 
at  the  oath.  With  a  quiet  dignity  she  left  her  father's 
presence,  went  to  her  room  and  began  packing  her 
trunk. 

Mr.  Dupont,  having  fumed  for  two  hours  and  worked 
off  his  bile,  began  to  feel  worried,  then  penitent.  "  I 


214  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

am  ashamed  of  myself,"  he  said,  "  for  swearing  at  my 
own  dear  daughter.  I  will  go  and  beg  her  pardon." 
Mr.  Dupont  knocked  at  Alice's  door  —  no  response; 
he  pushed  it  open  —  Alice  was  not  there;  he  looked 
for  her  trunk  —  it  was  gone.  "  Sacristie!"  exclaimed 
Mr.  Dupont,  for  even  his  profanity  had  become  French- 
ised,  "what  has  happened?"  The  femme-de-chambre 
appearing  at  the  time,  Mr.  Dupont  demanded,  "Where 
is  mademoiselle?" 

"  She  left  by  the  train  for  London,"  answered  the 
servant. 

"  Mon  Dieti!"  ejaculated  the  father.  It  was  but  a 
moment  until  he  was  in  a  voiture,  flying  to  the  station. 
Fortunately  he  arrived  before  the  train  started,  and 
found  his  daughter.  "Alice,  what  does  this  mean?" 
demanded  her  father. 

Alice  calmly  replied,  "  It  simply  means,  that  while  I 
am  willing  to  obey  my  parents  in  the  Lord,  I  am  not 
called  to  live  with  a  father  who  has  so  little  love  or 
respect  for  his  daughter  that  he  calls  on  God  to  damn 
her.  I  am  of  age  and  fortunately  have  sufficient  money 
in  my  own  right  to  live  independently  of  my  parents." 

Explanations  and  apologies  followed  from  Dupont 
pere,  reinforced  by  the  entreaties  of  Dupont  mere,  who 
had  now  arrived  on  the  scene.  There  was  a  general 
make-up,  in  which  Alice  came  out  victor.  There  was 
a  little  stiffness  between  parents  and  daughter,  some 
readjustment  of  their  strained  relations  was  needed, 
yet  Alice  behaved  so  well  and  with  such  quiet,  righteous 
self-assertion,  that  her  parents  found  out  that  at  last 
Alice  Dupont  had  obtained  a  character. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  215 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

WONDERS   OF  THE   MIND    SEEN    BY  ALICE    DUPONT    IN 
PARIS.  —  STIGMATIZATION. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dupont  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  only  thing  was  to  get  their  daughter  home  as  soon 
as  possible.  "  I  don't  want  to  even  visit  London,"  said 
her  father,  "  for  who  knows  but  Alice  may  take  up 
there  with  the  Salvation  Army."  So,  finding  that  a 
steamer  of  the  "  Compagnie  Generate  Tran  sail  antique" 
sailed  in  two  days  for  Havre,  he  engaged  passage 
therein.  That  left  them  a  day  in  Paris,  and  Mr. 
Dupont,  not  wishing  to  leave  Alice  out  of  his  sight, 
accepted  an  invitation  from  his  friend,  Dr.  Soupe,  to  visit 
a  hospital,  under  the  charge  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  to 
see  a  remarkable  case  of  religious  ecstasy.  As  this 
combined  religion  with  entertainment,  Mr.  Dupont 
judged  it  would  meet  the  different  tastes  of  his  family. 
Alice  rather  demurred,  on  learning  that  the  ecstatic 
passed  through  a  condition  which  claimed  to  reproduce 
on  her  body  the  sufferings  of  the  Savior  on  the  Cross. 
"  Oh,  doctor,"  she  said,  "  does  this  not  savor  of 
blasphemy?  " 

"  No,    mademoiselle,    you    non-comprehend.      This 


2l6  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

female  has  no  idea  of  doing  anything  irreverent;  in 
deed,  it  is  her  very  desire  to  honor  her  Savior,  by 
imitating  him  in  his  Passion,  which  leads  her  into  these 
experiences." 

Female  curiosity  surmounted  any  remaining  qualms 
of  conscience,  and  Alice  set  out  with  her  father  and 
the  doctor  to  visit  the  Convent  to  which  this  ecstatic 
belonged.  Dr.  Soupe  knew  the  Mother  Superior  in 
charge,  and  as  Paris  Catholics  have  no  qualms  of 
conscience  about  proselyting  wealthy  Americans,  she 
treated  the  Duponts  with  great  consideration.  She  led 
them  into  a  room  where,  on  a  plain  pallet,  lay  a  young 
girl,  evidently  of  highly  wrought  nervous  temperament. 
She  was  lying  on  her  back,  her  arms  being  extended 
outward,  and  her  feet  close  together,  —  in  the  position 
a  person  would  be  if  nailed  to  a  cross ;  the  face  was 
turned  upward,  the  eyes  expressing  the  most  profound 
absorption  in  thought.  All  the  time  Alice  was  gazing 
at  her,  there  was  no  movement  of  her  person,  except 
that  produced  by  slight  respiration.  The  "  Mother  " 
explained  that  she  had  for  a  long  time  been  in  a  state 
of  ecstasy.  As  Alice's  look  showed  she  did  not 
understand  what  was  meant  by  that  state,  the  "  Mother" 
went  on  to  say,  "  For  some  months  past  Sister  Louise 
has,  on  every  Friday,  been  visited  with  a  celestial 
vision,  which  brings  before  her  vividly  the  scene  of  the 
Crucifixion ;  she  sees  the  blessed  Savior  nailed  to  the 
cross,  and  while  beholding  the  incidents  of  his  cruci 
fixion,  finds  them  repeated  in  her  own  body.  Our 
attention  was  first  called  to  this  miracle  by  the  rigid 
state  of  her  limbs  and  her  unconsciousness  to  external 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  21 7 

impressions ;  when  we  spoke  to  her  she  answered  not, 
but  kept  her  eyes  fixed,  as  if  gazing  into  heaven.  We 
watched  her  carefully,  thinking  that  she  might  be  about 
to  pass  to  Paradise.  But  how  astonished  were  we  to 
find,  coming  out  on  her  hands  and  feet,  exactly  in  the 
place  where  the  nails  would  be  driven,  livid  spots,  and 
from  these  spots  issuing  blood ;  also  on  her  side,  over 
the  region  of  the  heart,  where  the  spear  pierced  the 
Savior's  side,  another  spot,  from  which  also  issued 
blood.  The  bleeding  ceased  as  soon  as  her  repetition 
of  her  Savior's  crucifixion  was  over,  but  the  spots 
remained,  as  you  can  see  for  yourself."  Alice  bent 
over  the  extended  hands  and  feet,  and  there  were  the 
spots,  just  as  the  "  Mother  "  had  described.  "  It  is  a 
remarkable  fact,"  she  added,  "  that  on  Fridays,  about 
noon,  —  the  time  our  Savior  was  probably  nailed  to  the 
cross,  —  the  bleeding  returns,  and  about  three  o'clock 
this  sister  repeats  the  death-scene  of  the  crucifixion. 
It  is  now,"  said  the  "  Mother,"  "  about  eleven  o'clock, 
and  if  you  will  visit  with  me  some  other  points  of 
interest  in  the  Convent,  we  can  return  about  twelve,  and 
see  whether  the  miracle  is  repeated." 

About  twelve  the  Duponts  returned.  The  girl  had 
apparently  not  moved  since  they  last  saw  her,  but  her 
countenance  was  marked  by  expectancy,  as  if  she 
herself  was  looking  for  the  return  of  the  miracle,  as  she 
considered  it.  The  spots  on  the  hands  and  feet  showed 
no  change,  except  they  were  redder,  as  if  the  part  was 
filled  with  blood;  in  a  short  time  blood  began  to 
exude  from  these  spots,  until  sufficient  was  collected  to 
trickle  down  on  the  bed-clothes.  The  party  became 


2l8  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

so  interested  that  they  waited  till  the  time  for  the 
death-scene.  Its  approach  was  announced  by  an 
increased  activity  in  Louise ;  sighs  escaped  from  her 
lips,  tears  ran  down  her  cheeks,  her  mouth  opened  as 
if  craving  drink,  her  respiration  became  very  labored, 
the  plaintive  sighs  changed  to  heavy  moans,  her  tongue, 
dried  with  thirst,  seemed  to  adhere  to  the  roof  of  her 
mouth.  Alice  began  to  feel  faint,  but  her  intense 
interest  in  the  scene  made  her  struggle  to  keep  up, 
especially  as  she  saw  that  the  ecstatic  was  approaching 
the  climax  of  her  action.  Suddenly,  a  convulsion 
shook  the  ecstatic's  frame,  the  palor  of  death  crept  over 
her  countenance,  the  pulse  became  scarcely  perceptible 
and  the  whole  surface  of  her  body  was  bedewed  with  a 
cold  perspiration,  a  loud  groan  issued  from  her  lips, 
her  head  dropped  upon  her  breast,  and  to  all  appear 
ance  she  was  dead.  Involuntarily,  a  cry  burst  from 
Alice's  lips.  The  "  Mother "  came  to  her  and  said, 
soothingly,  "  Be  not  alarmed,  Sister  Louise  is  now 
repeating  the  death  of  her  Savior ;  she  will  soon  repeat 
his  return  to  life."  So,  indeed,  it  was ;  for  after  a  few 
minutes  a  faint  glow  spread  over  the  body,  the  breast 
gently  heaved,  color  mantled  to  her  face,  she  raised  her 
head  from  her  breast,  opened  her  eyes,  and  gazed  on 
the  bystanders  with  a  look  of  calm  satisfaction.  Then, 
as  if  in  a  transport  of  rapture,  she  threw  herself  on  her 
knees,  and  burst  forth  in  thanksgiving  for  the  honor 
the  Savior  had  conferred  on  her.  Rising  from  her 
knees,  she  sat  on  the  edge  of  her  bed,  and  the  "  Mother" 
approaching  her  said,  "  Sister,  can  you  give  us  any 
description  of  what  you  have  seen?" 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  2lp 

"Words  cannot  express  it,"  exclaimed  Louise,  "I 
can  only  say  that  I  found  myself  suddenly  plunged 
into  a  vast  flood  of  bright  light,  from  which  more  or 
less  distinct  forms  began  to  evolve  themselves ;  then  I 
witnessed  successively  the  scenes  of  the  crucifixion.  I 
beheld  the  cross  on  Calvary,  and  our  blessed  Lord 
nailed  to  it;  also  the  scenes  around  the  cross,  heard  the 
hooting  of  the  rabble,  the  taunts  of  the  Scribes  and  Phar 
isees,  and  saw  the  parting  of  his  raiment  by  the  soldiers. 
Christ  stood  so  distinctly  before  me,  that  I  could  even 
hear  His  dying  cry,  and  could  watch  the  gradual  ebbing 
out  of  His  life.  When  He  expired,  I  seemed  myself 
to  pass  from  this  life,  and  was  unconscious  until  I 
opened  my  eyes  and  saw  you  all  standing  around  my 
couch." 

"But  do  you  really  believe  you  saw  the  Savior?" 
inquired  Alice. 

"  Certainly,"  said  Louise,  with  an  air  of  commiseration 
at  the  weak  faith  of  the  questioner.  Alice  was  about 
to  respond,  when  Mr.  Dupont,  fearing  a  theological 
battle,  hurried  his  daughter  from  the  convent,  having 
first  politely  thanked  the  "  Mother,"  and  left  a  large 
contribution  in  the  box  at  the  door.  A  park  was  near 
and  on  one  of  its  benches  the  party  were  soon  seated  in 
deep  conversation. 

"Dr.  Soup£,"  said  Mr.  Dupont,  "what  led  you  to 
ask  me  to  witness  such  a  confounded  imposture  as 
that?" 

"Not  an  imposture  at  all,"  said  Dr.  Soup£,  very 
coolly,  "  I  can  show  you,  my  friend,  from  medical 
authorities,  which  are  recognized  as  sound,  plenty  of 


22O  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

similar  cases,  and  that  they  can  be  accounted  for  on 
natural  causes."  * 

"  Yes,"  interrupted  Mr.  Dupont,  whose  indignation 
was  not  yet  appeased,  "  this  '  can  be  accounted  for  on 
natural  causes,'  by  supposing  they  have  beaten  that 
girl  black  and  blue,  and  then  stopped  the  bleeding 
until  the  hour  of  twelve  arrived,  when  they  let  it 
return." 

"  Your  theory  is  more  miraculous  than  the  thing 
itself,"  answered  Dr.  Soupe,  "  for  I  have  never  heard 
of  any  styptic  which  could  be  so  timed  in  its  effects 
that  a  person  should  be  beaten  at  nine,  the  blood  from 
the  wound  arrested  until  twelve,  then  let  flow  again 
till  four,  and  then  again  arrested  in  its  flow." 

Mr.  Dupont,  recognizing  the  force  of  this  answer, 
became  somewhat  mollified  and  said,  "Well,  then, 
doctor,  let  us  hear  your  explanation." 

"  I  think,"  said  the  doctor,  "  I  can  explain  it  from 
the  effect  of  the  mind  on  the  body,  where  certain 
states  of  mind  produce  marks  on  the  skin  and  even 
bleeding,  such  cases  are  too  well  established  to  be 
doubted.  So  able  a  scientist  as  M.  Alfred  Maury, 
who  had  no  sympathy  with  any  belief  in  the  miraculous 
character  of  these  phenomena,  admits  that  they  belong 

*  See  an  exactly  similar  case  to  the  one  described  above  in  the  case  of  Louise 
Lateau,  reported  in  Macmillan's  Magazine,  April,  1871,  which  case  Dr.  Carpenter 
says,  "has  undergone  a  scrutiny  so  careful,  on  the  part  of  medical  men,  determined 
to  find  out  the  deceit,  if  such  should  exist,  that  there  seems  no  adequate  reason  for 
doubting  its  genuineness."  The  various  stages  of  the  ecstatic's  death  and  recovery 
to  life,  given  above,  have  been  reproduced  from  the  account  given  in  Brierre  de 
Boismont's  celebrated  work  on  "  Hallucination,"  from  the  part  where  he  narrates 
the  history  of  the  Ecstatic  of  Kaldern  —  Marie  de  Moerl  —  a  case,  the  facts  of  which, 
as  De  Boismont  shows,  have  been  attested  beyond  dispute.  Since  De  Boismont 
assigns  no  miraculous  character  to  the  case,  his  testimony  to  the  facts  are  the  more 
reliable. 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  221 

to  a  certain  group  of  psycho-physical  facts.  He  says 
that  in  these  visionaries  the  power  of  imagination, 
aided  by  the  concentration  of  attention,  directs  the 
blood  to  the  place  where  they  fancy  themselves 
affected.  As  for  the  bleeding  itself,  we  know  that  the 
transudation  of  blood  from  the  skin  through  the 
perspiratory  ducts  (apparently  owing  to  the  rupture  of 
the  walls  of  the  cutaneous  capillaries)  under  strong 
emotional  excitement,  is  a  well  established  fact.  So 
asserts  Dr.  Carpenter,*  and  this  distinguished  physi 
ologist  says  of  the  case  of  Louise  Lateau,  exactly 
similar  to  the  case  in  the  Convent  we  have  just  visited, 
'  that  there  is  nothing  in  it  that  the  physiologists  need 
find  any  difficulty  in  accepting.'  " 

"  Well,  I  find  difficulty  in  accepting  it,"  said  Mr. 
Dupont,  rather  abruptly,  "  do  you  mean,  doctor,  to 
assert  that  imagination  can  make  a  person  sweat  drops 
of  blood?  " 

"No,"  answered  Dr.  Soup6,  "  that  is,  if  you  mean  by 
imagination  a  mere  phantasy  of  the  mind,  but  I  do 
assert,  and  my  assertion  is  sustained  by  examples  which 
can  be  cited,  that  when  attention  and  expectation  are 
strongly  directed  to  a  certain  part  of  the  body,  results 
do  follow  in  this  very  way.  For  example  —  persons 
have  dreamed  that  they  were  beaten,  and  on  awaking 
have  found  marks  of  bruises  on  their  body." 

"Whew!  "  said  Mr.  Dupont. 

"You  may  'whew'  as  much  as  you  please  at  it," 
said  Dr.  Soupe,  "  these  are  facts  which  have  been 
established  by  witnesses  too  reputable  to  be  disputed. 

*  Mental  Physiology,  page  690. 


222  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

But  if  you  want  a  case  in  point,  where  imagination, 
concentrated  attention  and  sympathy  conjoined  have 
reproduced  even  bodily  wounds,  I  refer  you  to  the 
well  attested  case  narrated  by  Dr.  Carter,  in  his  work 
on  the  (  Pathology  and  Treatment  of  Hysteria '  (page 
24).  Carter  says,  'A  lady,  who  was  watching  her 
little  child  at  play,  saw  a  heavy  window-sash  fall  upon 
its  hand,  cutting  off  three  of  the  fingers ;  and  she  was 
so  much  overcome  by  fright  and  distress  as  to  be 
unable  to  render  it  any  assistance.  A  surgeon  was 
speedily  obtained,  who,  having  dressed  the  wound, 
turned  to  the  mother,  whom  he  found  seated,  moaning, 
and  complaining  of  pain  in  her  hand.  On  examination, 
three  fingers,  corresponding  to  those  injured  in  the  child, 
were  discovered  to  be  swollen  and  inflamed,  although 
they  had  ailed  nothing  prior  to  the  accident.  In  four- 
and-twenty  hours,  incisions  were  made  into  them  and 
pus  was  evacuated  ;  sloughs  were  afterwards  discharged 
and  the  wounds  ultimately  healed.' "  * 

"  Well,  then,  doctor,"  said  Mr.  Dupont,  "  how  do 
you  explain  the  case  we  have  witnessed?  " 

"  Simply,  that  the  girl,  having  her  nervous  system 
wrought  up  to  the  highest  tension,  imagined  that  she 
beheld  her  Savior  being  crucified,  that  her  sympathetic 
attention  was  strongly  directed  to  his  wounds,  that  she 
repeated,  through  the  action  of  her  mind  on  the 
muscular  tissues  and  circulation,  the  vision  she  fancied 
she  had  seen.  It  is,  after  all,  but  the  law  of  sympathetic 
action,  often  exhibited  in  certain  states  of  the  mind  and 
body,  where  the  sight  of  a  peculiar  state  in  another 

*  See  an  almost  similar  case  narrated  by  Dr.  Tuke  in  his  "  Influence  of  the 
Mind  upon  the  Body,"  page  260. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  223 

person  will  repeat  that  state  in  the  spectator;  just  as 
women  go  into  hysterics  or  faints  when  they  behold 
others  in  these  conditions.  In  this  particular  case 
there  should  also  be  considered  Sister  Louise's  firm 
faith,  or  rather,  to  speak  more  philosophically,  her 
intense  expectation,  then  you  have  the  apparent  miracle 
resolved." 

"  Pshaw  !  "  said  Mr.  Dupont,  "  you  Frenchmen  have 
large  imaginations  and  boundless  expectations." 

"Well,"  answered  Dr.  Soupe,  with  more  politeness 
than  his  accuser,  "  we  can  always  give  a  philosophical 
reason  for  our  expectations."  * 

*  In  the  Cyclopaedia  of  the  Practice  of  Medicine,  edited  by  Dr.  H.  Von 
Ziemssen,  Professor  of  Clinical  Medicine  in  Munich,  Bavaria  (Vol.  14,  page  527), 
occurs  the  following  judicious  summing  up  of  the  false  and  true  in  Stigmatization  : 
(The  italics  are  our  own.) 

"  One  must,  therefore,  constantly  be  on  one's  guard  against  deception.  This 
remark  is  still  more  applicable  to  the  blood-staining  of  the  sweat  and  tears  some 
times  observed,  and  especially  to  those  greater  hemorrhages  front  particular 
circumscribed  portions  of  the  skin.  The  latter  are  said  to  occur  particularly  on 
the  hands  and  feet  and  on  the  chest  and  forehead,  and  in  such  a  manner  that  a 
bladder-like  elevation  of  the  epidermis  first  takes  place,  when  the  serum  in  bulla,  at 
first  clear,  becomes  of  a  bloody  color,  and  then,  after  flattening  of  the  skin,  a  flow 
of  blood  takes  place,  often  tolerably  abundant  and  persisting  for  a  length  of  time. 
This  phenomenon,  described  as  Stigmatization,  in  which  superstition  beholds  a 
recurrence  of  the  wounds  and  bleeding  of  Christ,  has  in  most  known  cases  become 
so  suspicious,  from  the  conduct  of  the  patients  themselves,  and  from  that  of  the 
priesthood,  who  have  derived  great  benefit  therefrom,  that  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  we  have  not  as  a  rule  to  deal  with  mere  fraud.  At  any  rate,  those  cases 
are  not  convincing  in  which  a  rigorous  inspection  has  been  avoided.  .  .  .  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Possibility  must  not  be  denied  that,  under  certain  circumstances, 
in  consequence  of  the  rupture  of  ihe  smaller  vessels,  bloody  admixtures  may  appear 
in  the  sweat  and  tears,  and  that  thus  also  more  considerable  hemorrhages  may 
occur." 


224  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

DR.   STRONG    GIVES    A    SHOCK   TO    MRS.    PAGE,    WHICH 
RESTORES   HER  MEMORY. 

On  Mortimer's  return  to  New  York  he  sent  immedi 
ately  for  Dr.  Strong.  The  latter  was  deeply  interested 
in  his  friend's  account  of  Esther  Bates'  supposed 
discovery  of  a  relationship  between  Ruth  and  Mortimer. 
"  I  believe  every  word  of  it,"  said  the  doctor,  enthusi 
astically,  "yes,  now  come  to  think  of  it,  Mortimer, 
there  is  some  resemblance  between  you  and  Miss 
Page." 

"  Oh,  imagination  !  "  exclaimed  Mortimer,  "  how 
great  is  thy  power  of  discovering  evidence  for  thy 
wildest  assertions." 

The  doctor,  rather  nettled,  replied,  "Well,  I  confess 
it  is  a  stretch  of  imagination  to  find  any  resemblance 
between  you  and  such  a  good  looking  young  lady. 
There  is  one  point,  too,  in  Esther  Bates'  theory  which 
does  not  seem  to  harmonize  with  the  facts  in  the  case, 
for,  according  to  it,  since  you  are  twenty-five,  Miss 
Page  must  be  twenty-six;  now,  she  does  not  look  to 
be  a  day  over  twenty-one." 

"That    does   not    trouble   me   in    the    least,"   said 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  225 

Mortimer,  "  I  have  known  women  look  younger  and 
many  older  than  their  asserted  age;  Miss  Freduka, 
whom  the  parish  record  proves  to  be  thirty-five,  swore 
in  court  the  other  day  that  she  was  but  twenty-five. 
Remember,  my  friend,  that  age  in  the  female  sex  is  a 
most  uncertain  quantity.  Miss  Page  has,  at  least, 
presumptive  evidence  in  her  favor,  for  she  reverses  the 
usual  ways  of  womankind  by  claiming  to  be  older  than 
she  looks.  Besides,  I  can  easily  see  how  a  girl  who  has 
led  such  a  quiet  life,  and  whose  mind-cure  belief  would 
make  her  respect  prudence  and  virtue,  might  preserve 
her  youthful  looks.  No,  doctor,  the  matter  of  age  is 
not  the  difficulty  in  this  case,  it  is  rather  the  finding  of 
that  important  paper  which  Mrs.  Page  asserts  she  once 
had  from  my  father.  Beside,  even  if  such  a  paper  be 
produced  by  Mrs.  Page,  the  witnesses  to  it  may  have 
long  since  departed  this  life." 

Dr.  Strong  sat  some  time  pondering  and  at  last  said, 
"  Mortimer,  what  would  you  say  to  my  going  up  to 
Falkill  and  investigating  this  matter?" 

"  Just  what  I  would  like  above  all  things,"  answered 
Mortimer.  "  You  are  a  disinterested  party  and  could 
weigh  the  probability  of  any  evidence  produced  better 
than  Esther  Bates.  But  would  it  not  be  a  little 
awkward  for  you,  doctor?" 

"  No,"  he  answered.  "  I  want  to  converse  more  with 
Miss  Page  about  her  Christian  Science,  and  I  rather 
suspect  from  our  last  interview  that  she  regards  me  as 
a  sort  of  materialistic  heathen,  so  I  would  like  to 
improve  on  my  past  reputation." 

"Well,    invent   any   excuse    you    please,    but   don't 


226  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

return  without  some  news,"  said  Mortimer,  and  thus 
they  parted. 

DR.  STRONG'S  LETTER  TO  WILLIAM  MORTIMER. 

"  Private  and  important." 
DEAR  MORTIMER  : 

I  know  you  are  burning  with  impatience  to  hear  about  my 
meeting  with  the  P.'s.  Well,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  I 
presented  myself  at  the  Hubbards'  shortly  after  my  arrival  at 
Falkill.  Mrs.  P.,  her  daughter,  and  E.  B.  were  sitting  on  the 
porch.  As  I  opened  the  garden  gate,  Miss  P.  started  up  and 
looked  eagerly  at  me,  as  if  to  determine  whether  it  was  really 
myself,  then  whispering  something  to  E.  B.  she  advanced  to  meet 
me  —  rather  coldly  —  did  not  put  out  her  hand.  Her  first  greeting 
was,  "  Dr.  S.,  may  I  ask  that  you  proceed  no  further ;  my  mother 
is  in  a  very  peculiar  condition  of  mind,  I  am  afraid  to  risk  her 
meeting  strangers."  I  tell  you,  old  fellow,  that  was  rather  a  cold- 
shower-bath  sort  of  reception.  I  did  not  want,  however,  to  be 
thus  shut  out,  especially  as  Miss  P.  looked  like  an  angel  dropped 
from  the  sky.  So  I  put  on  my  best  manners  and  courteously 
answered,  "  Miss  P.,  hearing  of  your  mother's  sickness,  I  came 
all  the  way  hither  to  see  whether  I  could  not  be  of  some  service  to 
you.  I  know  you  set  no  value  on  my  medical  treatment,  but  it  is 
not  to  urge  this  upon  you  that  I  have  come,  it  is  rather  to  study 
your  treatment,  to  learn  more  if  I  can  of  your  Christian  Science; 
I  also  hoped  that  I  could  serve  you  as  a  friend,  but  of  course  I  do 
not  wish  to  obtrude  on  your  desired  privacy." 

"  Did  Mr.  Mortimer  send  you  here?"  she  asked. 

"  No,  I  can  truly  say  he  did  not,  it  was  my  own  proposition  to 
come  hither,  but  when  he  heard  of  my  coming,  he  asked  me  to 
serve  him  by  striving  to  find  the  witnesses  to  a  certain  document, 
the  truth  of  which  he  feels  deeply  interested  in  establishing." 

"  Then  you  know  «//,  Dr.  Strong?  " 

"Yes,  Miss  P.,  everything,  and  now  will  you  not  permit  me 
to  be  your  friend ;  I  have  no  other  desire  than  to  serve  you  to  the 
best  of  my  ability ;  I  may  over-estimate  that  ability,  but  it  does 
seem  to  me  that  I  could  investigate  this  matter  better  than  you, 


OR.    THE    NEW   HYGEIA. 


227 


and  could  do  it  without  attracting  as  much  attention.  It  is 
evident,  Miss  P.,  that  you  need  at  this  juncture  a  gentleman 
friend." 

"  You  are  right,  Dr.  S.,"  she  replied,  "  in  saying  that  I  need 
at  this  juncture  a  gentleman  friend,  and  it  does  seem  as  if  God 
had  sent  you ;  but  I  will  be  candid  with  you ;  my  mother  took  an 
aversion  to  you  at  your  first  call  at  our  house,  which  was  deepened 
by  finding  that  you  were  a  friend  of  Mr.  M.'s  —  "  and  she  paused 
and  seemed  really  distressed  to  know  what  to  do.  I  saw,  however, 
that  I  was  gaining  ground,  so  I  said,  "  Miss  P.,  you  now,  at  least, 
know  I  am  here,  and  the  object  of  my  visit;  suppose  you  think 
over  this  and  I  will  call  again  to-morrow  evening." 

"Well,  Dr.  S.,"  she  replied,  thoughtfully,  "I  think  we  will 
thus  let  it  stand  for  the  present."  I  simply  bowed  and  was 
leaving,  when,  seeming  to  think  she  had  treated  me  rather  coldly, 
she  said,  "Dr.  S.,  I  hope  you  will  not  infer  that  I  do  not 
appreciate  your  kind  intentions,  it  is  only  my  mother's  feelings 
that  I  am  considering." 

"You  are  perfectly  right,  Miss  P.,"  I  answered,  "  I  appreciate 
fully  your  wisdom  in  this  matter."  Well,  somehow  I  slept  badly 
that  night,  I  was  in  rather  a  nervous  state,  so  the  next  day 
determined  to  foot  it  over  this  lovely  country  and  breathe  its 
invigorating  air.  I  stopped  at  the  house  of  an  old  colored  man, 
known  here  as  "  Old  Si."  He  is  a  venerable  looking  negro  and  as 
pious  as  Abraham.  I  undertook  to  run  him  on  his  faith  a  little, 
but  I  confess  he  gave  me  back  a  Roland  for  an  Oliver  every  time. 
(I  will  tell  you  all  the  conversation  when  I  get  back).  Incidentally 
I  asked  him — how  long  he  had  lived  here.  He  said  for  over  half  a 
century.  The  thought  immediately  struck  me  that  he  might  know 
something  about  your  father;  I  inquired  and  found  to  my  delight 
that  he  had  worked  at  Grasslands.  I  asked  him  whether  he  had 
ever  seen  the  first  Mrs.  M.  He  looked  guardedly  at  me  and  said, 
"What  does  you's  no  'bout  dat  fust  Missus  M.?  " 

I  saw  that  there  was  no  use  of  fooling  with  that  old  darkey, 
so  after  extracting  from  him  a  solemn  promise  not  to  repeat  what 
I  was  about  to  say,  I  told  him  that  it  was  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  one  of  the  purest,  best  of  women  to  establish  some 
thing  connected  with  the  first  Mrs.  M.,  and  added,  "  Si,  I  speak 


228  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

to  you  in  perfect  honesty,  and  call  upon  God  to  witness  that  I  am 
trying  to  find  out  this,  simply  to  benefit  a  fellow  being." 

"  Quar  you's  call  on  de  Almighty  fur  to  be's  your  witness," 
said  Si,  "when  you's  sez  you's  don't  b'lieve  in  an  Almighty,  go 
'way,  you're  like  all  des  atheists,  you's  mighty  independent  uv  dat 
Almighty  till  you's  want  to  use  'Im ;  guess  you'll  want  to  use  'Im 
still  warse  when  you's  come  to  cross  de  ribber  uv  death." 

Well,  M.,  I  never  met  with  such  a  case,  I  would  have  given 
him  up,  but  I  saw  I  might  strike  some  important  discovery,  so  I 
stuck  to  him,  and,  really,  the  fellow  made  me  swear  on  the  Bible, 
and  declare,  when  I  did  it,  that  I  believed  in  a  God,  before  he 
would  go  on,  and  then  he  said,  "Young  man,  you's  does  b'lieve  in 
a  God  with  you's  conscience,  its  you's  heart  which  be's  de  trubble ; 
as  de  gud  book  sez,  'de  fool  hes  sed  in  'is  heart  dar  is  no  God.'" 

Well,  I  submitted  to  even  this  verdict  of  Si  on  my  moral 
character,  to  get  at  the  old  darkey's  information.  "  Si,"  I  said, 
"did  you  ever  see  the  first  Mrs.  M.?" 

"  Offen,  she  wuz  a  lady,  she  alway  treated  ole  Si  berry  kind, 
she  looked,  howsomever,  sort  uv  broken  hearted." 

"  Do  you  know  the  reason,  Si  ?  " 

"  No,  I  only  knows  de  master  and  her  parted." 

"  How  did  you  know  this  ?  " 

"Well,  I  be's  called  to  de  house  to  witness  a  paper  dey  drew 
up  dat  night  dey  parted  " 

Oh,  M.,  how  my  heart  jumped  into  my  throat  when  I  heard 
this,  but  I  carelessly  asked,  "  Why,  Si,  how  could  you  witness  a 
paper,  can  you  write  your  name?" 

"  No,  I  jes  made  my  mark,  de  lawyer-man  dat  drew  de  paper, 
sort  uv  wrote  his  name  to  say  dat  wuz  truly  Si's  mark,  dey  sed  dat 
wuz  totally  sufficient." 

I  talked  more  with  the  darkey,  but  that  was  all  of  importance 
that  I  could  find  out.  This,  you  notice,  exactly  corresponds  with 
Mrs  P.'s  statement  that  one  witness  signed  that  paper  with  his 
mark.  Now,  if  only  that  paper  could  be  found,  and  the  other 
witness.  I  send  this  right  off,  before  seeing  Miss  P.  this  evening, 
as  I  know  how  glad  you  will  be  to  hear  all  this.  I  suppose  Si 
would  say,  if  he  knew  how  I  was  led  to  come  here,  "  Dat  wuz  a 
special  prov'dence."  Yours  as  ever, 

H.S. 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  229 

The  reader  can  easily  imagine  the  effect  of  this 
letter  on  the  mind  of  William  Mortimer.  Indeed,  it 
satisfied  him  that  one-half  of  the  evidence  needed  to 
prove  the  truth  of  Mrs.  Page's  statement  was  at  hand. 
How  impatiently  he  waited  for  the  second  letter  from 
his  friend,  the  doctor !  It  soon  followed  and  read  as 
follows : 

DEAR  MORTIMER: 

I  take  up  my  story  where  it  left  off.  That  evening  I  visited 
again  Miss  P.  (She  certainly  is  a  beautiful  girl  and  a  perfect 
lady.)  She  met  me  this  time  very  kindly.  Indeed,  she  came  to 
meet  me  outside  the  gate  by  a  bush  which  hid  us  from  the  sight 
of  her  mother  and  E.  B.,  who  were  again  sitting  on  the  porch. 
She  explained  she  did  not  want  her  mother  to  see  me,  as  Mrs.  P. 
had  been  strangely  agitated  after  I  left,  the  evening  before. 

She  said,  "  Dr.  S.,  I  have  been  thinking  over  this  whole  matter 
and  talking  with  E.  B.  about  it,  and,  though  I  highly  appreciate 
your  kindness,  yet  I  will  have  to  decline  your  offer.  I  really  do 
not  think  you  could  aid  us.  You  are  a  physician ;  what  we  need 
at  this  juncture  —  I  speak  plainly — is  a  lawyer.  I  think  I  will  do 
nothing  more  about  this  matter  till  my  mother  is  able  to  be  moved 
to  New  York.  I  will  then  employ  a  lawyer  and  will  endeavor  to 
find  the  paper.  You  would,  however,  do  me  a  favor  if  you  will 
inform  Mr.  Mortimer  of  this  and  tell  him  that  my  object  in 
employing  a  lawyer  is  not  to  enforce  any  claim  on  him,  for  I  have 
none  to  enforce,  but  only  to  establish  my  parentage.  But,  before 
we  part,  I  want  to  thank  you,  doctor,  for  your  kindness  in  this 
matter.  I  do  appreciate  it  highly,"  and  she  put  out  her  hand  to 
bid  me  good-bye. 

But  I  calmly  put  mine  behind  my  back  and  said,  with  a  smile, 
"  Miss  P.,  you  believe  in  a  providence,  and  I  am  now  going  to 
convince  you  that  a  providence  has  sent  me  here,  and  I  hope  it 
will  convince  you  also  that  a  providence  must  keep  me  here."  So 
I  told  her  what  I  had  found  out  through  old  Si. 

I  watched  the  effect  of  this  on  Miss  P.,  for  I  wanted  to  see 
whether  these  Christian  Scientists  could  exercise  the  same  control 


230  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

over  themselves  which  they  claim  over  others.  Well,  for  a 
moment  Miss  P.  did  seem  thrown  off  her  equilibrium,  but  only  for 
a  moment,  then,  clasping  her  hands  in  prayer  and  looking  upward 
with  a  heavenly  smile  of  perfect  peace,  she  simply  ejaculated, 
"  Thank  God." 

She  turned  and  went  to  the  porch,  evidently  intending  to  inform 
her  mother  of  the  good  news.  I,  being  somewhat  dazed,  followed 
her  uninvited.  As  soon  as  Mrs.  P.  saw  me  she  gave  one  wild 
shriek  and  went  off  in  a  swoon.  There  was  no  time  to  parley,  so 
I  lifted  Mrs.  P.  in  my  arms  and  carried  her  into  the  parlor  and 
laid  her  upon  a  lounge,  and,  without  asking  Miss  P.'s  permission, 
gave  her  some  stimulants  which  soon  brought  her  too,  when, 
fearing  my  presence  might  bring  on  another  attack,  I  quietly 
withdrew.  The  H.'s  followed  me  to  the  door  and  said  they  were 
glad  that  at  last  Mrs.  P.  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a  regular 
physician,  for,  according  to  their  statement,  the  only  treatment  the 
poor  woman  has  received  was  that  of  a  mind-cure  doctor  from 
Boston,  who  simply  sat  by  her  bedside  and  looked  wise.  So  I  am 
all  right  with  the  H.'s,  and,  as  far  as  they  are  concerned,  will  not  be 
debarred  from  their  house.  I  expect,  however,  to  return  to  New 
York  in  a  few  days,  but  politeness  will,  of  course,  require  that  I 
should  call  and  inquire  after  Mrs.  P.'s  health  before  leaving  here. 

Yours  in  haste, 

H.  S. 

P.  S.  A  messenger  has  just  come  from  the  H.s',  saying  that 
the  shock  given  to  Mrs.  P.  by  my  sudden  appearance  has 
recovered  Mrs.  P.'s  memory. 

It  will  not  do  to  let  the  doctor  tell  the  story  any 
further.  He  is  not  a  disinterested  witness,  for  his 
nervous  system  has  received  too  great  a  shock  from  the 
battery  of  Ruth's  eyes.  Besides,  there  were  some  facts 
of  which  he  was  ignorant,  which  we  will  now  relate. 

After  Ruth  returned  to  the  porch  on  the  first  evening 
of  Dr.  Strong's  appearance,  her  mother  acted  quite 
wildly,  and  demanded  to  know  whom  she  had  been 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  231 

talking  with.  Ruth  had  a  struggle,  between  her  con 
science  and  the  truth,  in  trying  to  keep  her  mother 
from  knowing  that  it  was  Dr.  Strong.  Esther  Bates, 
however,  came  to  her  aid,  and  they  together  diverted 
Mrs.  Page's  attention,  finally  getting  her  to  bed,  where, 
exhausted  by  the  reaction  from  her  mental  tension,  she 
fell  asleep.  Then  Ruth  took  Esther  aside  and  told  her 
all.  Now,  to  Esther  "  a  medical  man  "  was  the  incar 
nation  of  irreligion,  the  more  so,  in  this  case,  as  she 
had  learned  from  Ruth  that  Dr.  Strong  was  somewhat 
of  a  sceptic.  Esther  urged  upon  Ruth  that  it  would  be 
a  great  sin  to  cease  relying  wholly  on  God  and  to  employ 
as  an  ally  a  sceptical  physician.  Therefore,  Ruth,  to 
allay  the  upbraidings  of  her  own  conscience,  determined 
to  give  the  doctor  a  cold  shoulder.  When  she  met  him 
again  she  performed  that  duty  somewhat  with  the 
feeling  of  a  martyr,  as  she  had  desired  to  cultivate  his 
acquaintance,  with  the  hope  of  converting  him  to  her 
Christian  Science.  The  news  he  had  brought  about 
the  discovery  of  one  of  the  missing  witnesses  to  the 
paper,  —  Old  Si  —  the  providential  effect  of  his  pres 
ence  on  the  recovery  of  her  mother's  memory,  con 
spired  to  make  Ruth  feel  under  lasting  obligations 
to  Dr.  Strong. 

A  remarkable  change  had  indeed  passed  over  Mrs. 
Page,  caused  by  the  shock  received  by  seeing  Dr. 
Strong,  for  every  faculty  of  her  mind  appeared  now  to 
have  regained  its  normal  action.  Indeed,  Mrs.  Page 
was  so  composed  that  Ruth  could  talk  freely  with  her 
mother  over  all  the  events  which  had  transpired  since 
the  latter's  attack  of  sickness.  Esther  Bates  also  told 


232  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

Mrs.  Page  about  her  informing  Mortimer  of  his  rela 
tionship  to  Ruth,  and  about  Dr.  Strong's  discovering 
the  missing  witness,  —  Si. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mrs.  Page,  "  I  now  recall  the  fact  that 
the  witness  who  signed  his  mark  was  a  colored  man." 

The  next  day  Dr.  Strong  appeared  on  the  scene. 
This  time  he  was  evidently  doubtful  about  his  reception, 
but  Ruth  warmly  greeted  him  and  introduced  him  to 
her  mother.  Esther  Bates,  fearing  the  coming  of  this 
medical  sceptic,  had  betaken  herself  to  the  camp- 
meeting.  She  was,  however,  somewhat  mollified  by 
hearing  from  Ruth,  on  the  next  day,  how  kindly  the 
doctor  had  inquired  after  her,  how  he  had  praised  her 
self-possession  during  the  scenes  of  the  previous 
evening,  and  how  reverently  he  had  spoken  of  Si's 
Christian  character. 

"  He  may  not  be  altogether  given  over  to  the  devil," 
said  Esther.  "  Let  us  unitedly  pray  that  he  may  be 
converted  to  faith  in  Christ  as  a  physician  for  his  soul 
and  body."  And  she  added,  solemnly,  "  I  believe, 
Ruth,  if  God  would  thus  convert  some  of  those  leading 
New  York  doctors,  it  would  produce  as  great  effect 
in  that  city  as  the  conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  did  in 
Damascus." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  233 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

A  MENTAL  TOURNAMENT,  IN  WHICH   THE   MATERIALIST 
RECEIVES   A  WOUND    IN    HIS    HEART. 

The  next  day  the  doctor  called  on  Miss  Page, 
making  the  double  excuse  of  a  desire  to  inquire 
after  her  mother's  health  and  of  bidding  Miss  Page 
good-bye,  as  he  intended  returning  to  New  York. 
Finding  Ruth  alone,  he  proposed  a  short  walk 
down  the  shady  road,  "  as  he  desired  the  oppor 
tunity  of  conversing  with  her  about  her  Christian 
Science."  Little  Rubie  appearing  on  the  scene,  Ruth 
graciously  accepted  the  doctor's  invitation  and  as 
graciously  requested  that  she  might  take  the  boy 
along  to  gather  some  wild  flowers,  which  request  the 
doctor  was  too  polite  to  refuse,  yet  too  human  to 
relish. 

Dr.  Strong  was  impressed  with  the  fact  that  a  change 
had  come  over  Miss  Page,  not,  however,  in  her  beauty, 
for  her  face,  glowing  with  health  and  freshened  by  the 
country  air,  seemed  more  beautiful  than  ever.  But,  as 
she  walked  by  his  side,  dressed  in  a  simple  garb 
of  white,  her  very  innocence  so  added  to  her  seem 
ing  youth  that  again  the  doctor  questioned  whether 


234  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

this  child  beauty  could  be  one  year  older  than 
Mortimer. 

While  as  lovely  as  ever,  Ruth  was  more  sedate. 
The  vivacity  which  had  bewildered  the  doctor's  mind 
at  their  first  interview,  was  toned  down,  —  a  natural 
effect  of  the  trying  scenes  through  which  she  had 
so  recently  passed.  Her  manner  toward  the  doctor 
was  not  at  all  constrained.  Ruth  had  seen  little  of 
gentlemen's  society,  and,  in  the  purity  of  her  own 
nature,  was  happily  ignorant  of  the  total  depravity 
that  is  in  mankind.  She  evidently  regarded  the 
doctor  as  a  friend,  to  whose  kindness  she  was  indebted, 
her  only  thought  concerning  repaying  that  kindness 
being  to  convert  him  to  the  truth.  They  had  reached 
a  spot  where  the  wild  flowers  were  abundant,  and, 
while  Rubie  ran  off  to  gather  them,  the  doctor  took 
the  opportunity  to  open  up  the  subject  of  the  mind- 
cure. 

"  I  have  been  thinking,  Miss  Page,"  he  began,  "  of 
our  first  conversation  and  of  the  points  presented  in 
your  interesting  lecture,  and,  while  there  are  many 
things  I  fail  to  comprehend,  yet  on  the  general  subject 
of  the  influence  of  the  mind  over  the  body  I  have  been 
deeply  interested.  Indeed,  our  foremost  physiologists 
a?e  devoting  more  attention  to  this  department  of 
medical  science.  Perchance  your  Christian  Science 
deserves  credit  for  turning  public  attention  in  this 
direction,  and  there  may  yet  be  more  harmony 
between  the  views  of  the  physiologist  and  Christian 
scientist." 

"  I  do  not  see,"  answered  Ruth,  with  a  simple  frank- 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  235 

ness  which  entertained  rather  than  offended  the  doctor, 
"  how  there  can  be  any  harmony  between  persons  who 
stand  on  the  opposite  sides  of  a  gulf  as  impassable  as 
that  between  Dives  and  Lazarus." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  the  doctor,  "  it  is  not  quite  as  bad  as 
that,  Miss  Page.  Science  does  recognize  a  kind  of 
'  divinity  in  man,  rough  hew  it  as  we  may.' " 

"Yes,  and  you  do  indeed  l  rough  hew  it,'  for  hear 
how  one  of  your  scientists  defines  consciousness,"  and 
she  took  a  slip  of  paper  from  her  pocket  and  read, 
" '  The  consciousness,  when  scientifically  examined, 
reveals  itself  as  a  quality  of  brain  or  mode  of  manifes 
tation  of  molecular  activities  of  the  organized  brain 
substance.' "  * 

But  the  doctor  desired  to  avoid  a  discussion  with 
Ruth  and  therefore  said,  "  I  will  not  attempt  to  defend 
my  science,  but  humbly  crave  to  be  taught  your 
own." 

"Now,"  said  Ruth,  playfully,  "you  are  coming  to  a 
hopeful  state.  Please,  then,  take  your  proper  position 
as  a  scholar  at  the  feet  of  your  teacher,"  and,  seating 
herself  on  a  bench  near  by,  the  doctor  being  seated  on 
the  ground,  she  began : 

"  Look  around  you,  Dr.  Strong,  on  nature  arrayed  in 
all  the  loveliness  of  this  fall  season.  Everywhere  you 
see  the  proofs  of  Christian  Science,  for  everything  on 

*  Quoted  from  Lester  F.  Ward,  A.  M.,  (of  the  Smithsonian  Institute)  article  in 
the  Christian  Register  of  Boston.  That  paper  asked  of  leading  scientists  their 
opinion  on  the  question  —  whether  there  were  any  positively  ascertained  facts  which 
make  it  difficult  to  believe  in  the  immortality  of  a  personal  consciousness,  also 
whether  the  question  should  be  considered  outside  the  pale  of  science.  As  to  the 
first  question,  Mr.  Ward's  reply  is  .1  fair  reflex  of  the  average  opinion  in  all  the 
other  replies.  As  to  the  second,  he  answers  with  a  decided  negative. 


236  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

which  your  eye  rests  speaks  of  one  Great  Cause.     You 
remember  those  beautiful  lines  of  Wordsworth,  — 

'"I  have  seen 

A  curious  child  who  dwelt  upon  a  tract 
Of  inland  ground,  applying  to  his  ear 
The  convolutions  of  a  smooth-lipped  shell, 
To  which,  in  silence  hushed,  his  very  soul 
Listened  intensely,  and  his  countenance  soon 
Brightened  with  joy ;  for  from  within  were  heard 
Murmurings,  whereby  the  monitor  expressed 
Mysterious  union  with  its  native  sea. 
Even  such  a  shell  the  universe  itself 
Is  to  the  ear  of  Faith,  and  there  are  times, 
I  doubt  not,  when  to  you  it  doth  impart 
Authentic  tidings  of  invisible  things; 
Of  ebb  and  flow,  and  ever  during  power ; 
And  central  peace  subsisting  at  the  heart 
Of  endless  agitation.'  " 

As  the  fair  girl  repeated  these  lines  her  face  lit  up 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  her  belief,  and  the  doctor's  heart 
unconsciously  responded  to  the  last  words,  —  "Endless 
agitation."  Ruth,  however,  was  too  much  absorbed  in 
her  subject  to  notice  the  doctor's  countenance,  for  her 
eyes  were  resting  not  on  him  but  on  that  nature  whose 
every  beauty  led  her  up  to  nature's  God,  so  without 
pausing  she  continued,  —  "  On  that  nature  is  written  — 
healing.  You  mow  yonder  grassy  lawn  and  at  once 
nature  goes  to  work  to  make  the  scythe-cut  blades 
spring  forth  again ;  you  hew  down  yonder  tree  and  at 
once  from  its  stump  springs  up  the  new  sapling ;  you 
wound  your  finger  and  at  once  nature  throws  out 
healing  plasms  to  unite  the  wounded  part;  the  highest 
power  confessedly  of  your  ablest  physician  is  to  assist 
nature  in  her  healing.  When  nature's  tendencies  to 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  237 

heal  cease,  the  decree  goes  forth  that  the  body  must 
yield  to  death.  These  voices  in  which  God  speaks 
through  nature  are  but  echoes  of  His  truth.  That 
truth  proclaims  that  there  exists  a  divine,  saving 
principle,  a  universally  diffused  life,  which  seeks  to 
impart  itself  in  healing  power  to  everything  that  lives. 
Who  was  it  that  uttered  those  words  which  contain  the 
very  essence  of  religion,  — '  I  am  the  Way,  the  Truth 
and  the  Life,'  —  but  He,  the  Christ,  the  life  of  men.  I 
beg  you,  Dr.  Strong,"  and  her  eyes  turned  to  him  with 
earnest  look,  "  to  ponder  this  fact,  that  nature  and 
nature's  God,  and  Christ  the  Revealer  of  God  to  us,  all 
proclaim  healing." 

"  Why,  then,  Miss  Page,"  said  the  doctor,  "  are  not 
all  healed.  You  speak  of  nature's  proclaiming  healing, 
I  grant  it  in  the  applications  you  have  cited  to  support 
your  theory,  but  I  also  find  written  over  nature  and 
man  —  inevitable  death." 

"  I  will  answer  your  question,"  said  Ruth,  "  by 
another  —  is  not  death  itself  in  one  sense  healing? 
Look  at  that  flower  there,  it  has  ceased  blooming,  its 
stalk  is  withered,  as  you  would  say,  *  dead/  its  seed 
begins  to  fall  to  the  earth,  but  as  Paul  tersely  puts  it, 
in  its  very  death  is  the  prophecy  of  life,  —  *  That  which 
thou  sowest  is  not  quickened  except  it  die ;  '  thus  even 
death  has  its  recuperative  tendencies." 

"  But,  Miss  Page,  all  men  do  not  view  this  matter  as 
you  do;  even  granting  the  existence  of  a  God,  and 
that  the  mission  of  His  Son  is  in  the  line  of  healing,  the 
fact  remains  that  many,  like  myself  for  example,  are  so 
full  of  doubt  that  we  never  accept  these  truths.  I 
speak  plainly,  I  do  not  wish  to  play  the  hypocrite." 


238  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

Ruth  cast  a  look  of  compassion  on  the  doctor  and 
said,  "  I  will  answer  you  as  frankly.  If  you  persist  in 
standing  aloof  from  the  truth  and  the  life,  you  cannot 
be  healed.  This  life  power  is  embodied  in  Jesus,  the 
Christ.  He  is  not  only  the  life  but  the  light ;  '  In 
Him  was  life,  and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men.' 
Suppose  I  want  to  get  the  healing  power  of  the  sun, 
could  I  have  it  by  burying  myself  in  a  cellar,  or  by 
shutting  out  with  curtains  his  rays.  Would  I  not 
rather  expose  myself  to  the  sun's  light?  Nor  would  I 
have  to  worry  about  making  the  sun  shine,  my  only 
concern  would  be  to  bask  in  its  warm  rays.  So  with 
my  soul,  there  is  the  sun  of  righteousness  arising  upon 
it  with  healing  in  its  beams,  healing  for  both  soul  and 
body;  what  am  /  to  do,  scoff  at  the  idea  of  the 
existence  of  that  sun,  or  at  the  healing  power  of  its 
beams?  Should  I  not  rather  open  my  heart  to  have 
him  come  in  and  expel  the  darkness  of  sin  and  irradiate 
it  with  his  light ;  yea,  should  I  not  in  the  silence  of  my 
soul  hold  communion  with  my  God,  praying  that  His 
life  and  light  might  make  me  whole?  " 

Dr.  Strong  was  considerably  affected  by  this  simple 
argument  of  Ruth,  more  so  than  he  was  willing  to 
acknowledge.  When  she  had  concluded  he  took  his 
eyes  off  her  face,  on  which  he  had  been  intently  gazing, 
and  fixed  them,  like  her's,  on  the  far  distance,  and  thus 
they  both  sat  and  pondered.  But  insensibly  his 
thoughts  reverted  from  these  truths  to  their  speaker. 
Who  was  this  girl?  he  had  never  met  her  like  before; 
so  pure,  so  guileless,  so  enthusiastic  over  her  peculiar 
belief,  he  could  not  bid  down  that  admiration  which  all 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  239 

men  instinctively  feel  for  a  pure,  spiritually  minded 
woman,  unless  said  woman  be  a  crank.  But  Ruth  Page 
could  not  be  numbered  among  cranks.  She  was  a 
child  of  nature,  striving  to  work  out  problems,  too  high, 
perchance,  for  her,  but  problems  which  interested  her 
as  tending  to  benefit  humanity.  Ruth  did  not  interrupt 
the  doctor's  cogitations,  she  sat  looking  at  the  distance, 
and,  as  she  had  promised  Esther,  praying  for  his 
conversion.  But  unfortunately  for  the  chances  of  that 
conversion,  Ruth  first  broke  the  silence.  The  thought 
recurred  to  her  that  she  had  not  explained  one  cardinal 
point  in  her  Christian  Science,  namely,  the  unreality  of 
matter.  Remembering,  too,  how  she  had  failed  to 
answer  the  doctor's  argument  on  this  point  at  their  first 
meeting,  she  felt  in  duty  bound  to  retrieve  her  failure, 
so  she  broke  the  silence  by  saying,  "  Dr.  Strong,  it 
seems  to  me  that  your  difficulties  would  be  resolved  if 
you  would  adopt  our  view  of  the  human  body." 

"What  is  that  view?"  asked  the  doctor,  as  if  in 
doubt  of  Ruth's  meaning. 

Ruth  replied,  "  What  we  call  matter,  including  the 
material  body,  has  existence  only  as  a  false  seeming. 
The  supreme  reality  in  the  universe  is  spirit."  * 

As  a  critical  listener  of  a  magnificent  oratorio  starts 
at  some  false  note  and  finds  his  opinion  of  the  performer 
at  once  lowered,  so  the  doctor  started  and  revolted 
at  this  utterance  of  Ruth.  Unfortunately,  too,  she  had 
now  abandoned  her  stronghold  of  spiritual  truth,  and 
had  come  out  on  a  battle-field,  where  her  opponent 
was  much  better  equipped.  Before  opening  his 

*  See  Evans'  Esoteric  Christianity,  page  57. 


240  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

batteries,  the  doctor  drew  her  further  on,  by  asking 
with  seeming  humility,  "  What  sphere,  then,  do  you 
assign  to  the  senses?" 

"  There  are  no  such  things,  strictly  speaking,  as 
material  senses,"  answered  Ruth,  "what  people  term 
the  senses  are  but  the  reflections  of  the  mind,  because 
all  is  mind.  If  the  mind  be  absent  from  the  body,  the 
body  has  no  sensation." 

"  True,"  answered  the  doctor,  "  still,  if  you  put  a 
piece  of  ice  before  a  person  who  had  never  seen  ice, 
that  person's  mind  could  not  tell  whether  it  was  cold  or 
hot  until  he  had  tested  it  with  his  senses.  Here  is  one 
of  many  examples  which  I  might  cite  to  show  that 
mind  and  matter  are  mutually  dependent." 

Ruth  could  not  answer  this  argument.  She  retreated 
to  her  stronghold  —  the  spiritual  side  of  the  argument  — 
but,  alas,  the  gates  had  been  left  open  and  the  enemy 
could  now  follow  her  even  therein.  "  I  acknowledge," 
she  said,  "  I  cannot  answer  your  argument,  doctor,  but 
I  fall  back  on  the  truth.  The  Bible,  which  furnishes 
the  true  account  of  man's  creation,  expressly  states 
that  man  is  not  matter,  because  it  says  that  he  was 
made  '  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  God ;  '  it  also  tells 
us  that  God  is  a  spirit;  therefore,  man  made  in  the 
image  and  likeness  of  God  must  be  spiritual,  not 
material." 

"  I  am  not  very  familiar  with  the  Bible,"  answered 
the  doctor,  "  but  I  have  read  with  some  care  the  first 
two  chapters  of  Genesis,  for  they  are  the  battle-ground 
between  us  materialists  and  the  Christian  Theists. 
Now,  these  chapters  plainly  teach  that  man  has  both  a 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  24! 

spiritual  and  material  nature,  for  they  make  a  clear 
distinction  between  man's  body  *  formed  out  of  the  dust 
of  the  ground,'  and  his  soul,  of  which  it  says,  'The 
Lord  God  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life 
and  man  became  a  living  soul;  '  besides,  according  to 
the  Bible  account,  the  body  was  first  formed  as  a 
distinct  entity,  afterward  a  soul  was  enshrined  therein. 
If  I  remember  aright,  there  is  a  verse  in  the  Bible 
which  makes  the  same  distinction  in  speaking  of  man's 
death,  — '  the  dust  returns  unto  the  earth  as  it  was,  and 
the  spirit  returns  unto  God  who  gave  it.'  I  am  no 
theologian,  Miss  Page,  but  the  Bible  itself  thus  recog 
nizes  man's  body  as  material;  besides,"  added  the 
doctor,  gallantly,  "  however  clearly  it  may  be  proven 
that  Adam  was  made  of  matter,  we  might  have  supposed 
that  Eve,  judging  from  her  daughters,  was  made  of 
some  finer  material ;  had  not  the  Bible  expressly  said, 
*  that  the  Lord  God  caused  a  deep  sleep  to  fall  upon 
Adam,  and  he  slept,  and  he  took  one  of  his  ribs  and 
closed  up  the  flesh  instead  thereof,  and  the  rib  which 
the  Lord  God  had  taken  from  man  made  he  a  woman? ' 
I  am  afraid,  Miss  Page,  that  however  we  may  admire 
your  sex,  yet  we  will  have  to  catalogue  even  the  female 
body  under  matter." 

Ruth  was  at  a  loss  to  answer  the  doctor,  who,  wise 
enough  to  not  press  his  advantage,  turned  the  subject 
by  saying,  "  I  confess,  Miss  Page,  that  since  I  first  met 
you,  I  have  given  more  attention  to  the  relation  of  the 
mind  to  the  body,  and  I  am  surprised  to  find  how 
much  our  leading  physiologists  and  metaphysicians 
lean  to  views  which  assimilate  to  your  own.  Take,  for 


242  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

example,  your  claim  '  that  mind  can  act  independent 
of  the  senses,'  or  '  that  sensation  can  arise  from  within ;  ' 
Prof.  Muller  asserts  that  a  person  blind  from  infancy,  in 
consequence  of  the  opacity  of  the  transparent  media  of 
the  eye,  may  have  a  perfect  internal  conception  of  light 
and  color.*  The  Scotch  metaphysician,  Reid,  speaking 
of  perceiving  external  things  through  the  senses, 
declares  that  no  man  can  show  it  to  be  impossible  for 
the  Supreme  Being  to  have  given  us  the  power  of 
perceiving  what  he  calls  external  objects  without  such 
organs.  Even  Sir  William  Hamilton  acknowledges 
that  '  however  astonishing,  it  is  now  proved  beyond  all 
rational  doubt  that  in  certain  abnormal  states  of  the 
nervous  organism  perceptions  are  possible  through 
other  than  the  ordinary  channels  of  the  senses.' " 

"Ah,  Dr.  Strong,"  said  Ruth,  "we  have  higher 
authority  than  the  names  you  have  mentioned,  for  we 
ask  of  you  men  of  science  what  God  asked  of  Abraham, 
'  Is  anything  too  hard  for  the  Lord  ? '  Can  you  look 
upon  the  human  body,  and  say  that  the  Maker  exhausted 
his  power  of  giving  sight  to  it  when  he  created  the 
retina,  the  optic  nerve  and  its  ganglionic  centre?  Are 
these,  after  all,  the  real  seeing  power?  Is  there 
not  behind  them  all  the  ego,  the  self?  This  death 
itself  cannot  destroy.  What  is  that  ego?  Even 
according  to  your  own  interpretation  of  the  Bible's 
account  of  man's  creation,  it  is  the  spiritual  part  of  his 
nature, — the  breath  of  life  breathed  into  him  by  God 
himself,  bestowing  so  divine  a  character  that  Christ 
himself  calls  men  '  gods.'  I  acknowledge  there  is  left  a 

*Muller's  Elements  of  Physiology,  pages  1059,  1060. 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  243 

schism  in  human  nature,  the  opposition  of  the  flesh  to 
the  reign  of  the  spirit,*  but  does  it  not  seem  a  just 
aim  for  man  to  strive  to  have  this  spiritual  nature  so  in 
harmony  with  God  that  the  fleshly  nature  shall  be 
in  submission  to  the  spiritual?  And  here  is  the  point 
of  our  Christian  Science,"  added  Ruth,  speaking  with 
great  earnestness.  "  Granting  for  the  moment  that 
I  am  right  in  this  view,  is  it  not  a  logical  conclusion, 
that  the  pervading  of  the  soul  with  the  presence  of  God 
would  tend  to  make  the  body  sound?  Is  not  the 
presence  of  the  Almighty  a  healing  presence?  for  he 
both  ( forgiveth  all  our  iniquities  and  healeth  all  our 
diseases.' 

"  Oh,  doctor !  "  and  the  tears  started  in  her  eyes  from 
her  deep  emotion,  "when  I  think  that  One  has  trod 
this  earth  who  came  from  Heaven  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost,  and  that  the  simple  touch  of  the 
hem  of  His  garment  restored  health  to  a  human  body, 
I  do  want  to  stretch  out  my  own  hand  of  faith  to 
touch  this  life-giving  Christ,  so  that  I  may  feel  the 
health-current  flow  not  only  into  my  soul  but  also  into 
my  very  body.  Doctor,  would  you  strike  down  that 
outstretched  hand  with  your  philosophy?  Cannot  you 
rather  bring  yourself  to  say,  '  If  I  may  but  touch  the 
hem  of  His  garment  I  shall  be  whole?  ' ' 

Ruth  in  her  earnestness  had  looked  right  into  the 
eyes  of  the  doctor.  There  was  no  tenderness  of  love  in 
that  look,  —  it  was  rather  the  gaze  of  conscious  truth 
fulness —  but  under  that  look  he  seemed  to  stand 
transfixed.  He  gazed  upon  her  with  admiration 

*  Esoteric  Christianity,  pages  41,  43. 


244  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

mingled  with  perplexity.  "What  is  it,"  he  asked  of 
himself,  "  in  this  young  woman  that  so  strangely  moves 
me?  I  sometimes  feel  like  clasping  her  to  my  heart, 
and  then  again  I  simply  admire  her  as  a  beautiful 
combination  of  purity  and  intellectuality.  Where  lies 
her  power  over  me?  I  wish  I  had  never  met  her  —  no, 
not  exactly  that.  I  wish  we  could  understand  each 
other  better." 

WThile  thus  pondering  Ruth  interrupted  his  thoughts 
by  rising  and  saying,  "  I  will  have  to  return  to  my 
mother,  as  she  cannot  yet  be  left  long  alone." 

So  they  walked  silently  side  by  side.  At  last  the 
doctor  managed  to  say,  "  Miss  Page,  I  would  very 
much  like  to  continue  our  acquaintance  when  you 
return  to  New  York." 

"  Certainly,"  said  Ruth,  with  a  frankness  which 
showed  that  she  understood  the  doctor's  proposal  as 
simply  that  of  a  friend. 

Rubie  came  up  and  gave  Ruth  a  bundle  of  wild 
flowers. 

"  How  beautiful  they  are  !  "  exclaimed  the  doctor. 

"  Take  one,  then,"  said  Ruth,  "  and  think  of  the 
Creator." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  doctor,  looking  meaningly  at  Ruth, 
"  and  of  his  creatures." 

But  Ruth,  thinking  that  the  doctor  referred  to  the 
subject  of  their  past  conversation,  said,  guilelessly, 
"  Yes,  doctor,  it  is  when  we  best  understand  the  Creator 
that  we  see  his  wonders  in  his  creatures." 

The  doctor  was  not  quite  satisfied  with  this  reply,  and, 
when  they  reached  the  garden  gate  and  Ruth  put  out 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA. 


245 


her  hand  to  bid  him  a  friendly  good-bye,  he  looked 
steadily  at  her  and  said,  "  Miss  Page,  I  must  make  a 
confession  ere  we  part.  While  looking  at  this  flower  I 
will  think  of  the  Creator,"  —  Ruth's  face  brightened  — 
"  and,"  added  the  doctor,  "  of  His  relations  to  his 
creatures,  but  there  is  one  of  his  creatures  whom  I 
shall  think  about  every  hour.  I  only  wish  I  could 
hope  she  would  thus  think  of  me." 

Ruth  started.  The  look,  the  tone  of  the  doctor 
were  unmistakable.  It  was  the  first  time  that  on  the 
ears  of  this  young  girl,  kept  secluded  from  the  world, 
had  fallen  the  accents  of  love.  It  was  a  new  revela 
tion  to  her  soul,  and  she  received  a  shock  greater  than 
any  she  had  ever  given  her  patients.  She  lost  her 
usual  self-possession,  blushed  and  seemed  much  con 
fused,  but  at  length  said,  "  Dr.  Strong,  I  shall  ever 
think  of  you  as  a  friend,  to  whose  kindness  I  am  greatly 
indebted  and  for  whom  I  have  the  highest  respect." 

"  Is  it  to  be  '  only  this  and  nothing  more?  '  "  pondered 
the  doctor,  as  he  walked  back  to  the  village, 


246  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

ALICE   AND    MORTIMER   MEET   AGAIN. 

The  Roman  writer,  Lactantius,  in  his  treatise  on 
"  The  Workmanship  of  God  or  The  Formation  of  Man," 
says :  "  The  mind  which  exercises  control  over  the 
body  appears  to  be  placed  in  the  highest  part  of  the 
head,  as  God  is  in  heaven ;  but  when  it  is  engaged  in 
any  reflection  it  appears  to  pass  to  the  heart,  and  as  it 
were  to  withdraw  to  some  secret  recess,  that  it  may 
elicit  and  draw  forth  counsel,  as  it  were  from  a  hidden 
treasury."  The  heathen  philosopher  unconsciously 
re-echoes  the  phraseology  of  the  Hebrew  prophets, 
which  uniformly  assigns  the  emotions  to  the  heart. 
The  natural  feeling  of  man  on  this  subject  is  illustrated 
by  the  gesture-language  of  both  civilized  and  savage ; 
the  man  of  fine  breeding  "  lays  his  hand  upon  his 
heart,"  and  Tyler,  in  his  account  of  the  Indians,  states 
that  "  they  express  fear  by  putting  the  hands  to  the 
lower  ribs,  and  by  showing  how  the  heart  flutters 
and  seems  to  rise  to  the  throat."  To  all  that  the 
physiologist  answers  with  a  contemptuous  smile.  "  Im 
possible,"  says  he,  "  that  the  heart  can  be  the  original 
seat  of  any  emotion,  for  it  must  be  originated  in  the 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  247 

brain  and  conveyed  to  the  heart,  through  the  nerves 
supplied  from  the  pneumogastric  and  sympathetic 
systems."  To  all  which  we  bow  with  humility,  yet 
humbly  inquire,  "  What,  sir,  sets  in  motion  the  pneumo- 
gastric  and  sympathetic  systems  ?  "  To  which  he  replies, 
"  That  hidden  force  of  life  the  seat  of  which  has  not  yet 
been  precisely  located."  "  Exactly  so,"  we  answer, 
"  and,  therefore,  until  you  locate  the  seat  of  life,  smile  not 
contemptuously  at  us  inheritors  of  the  pneumogastric 
and  sympathetic  systems,  if  we  believe  that  in  the  body, 
—  this  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  —  the  Shechinah 
reveals  his  glory  in  a  Holy  of  Holies,  whereinto  the  foot 
of  scientists  has  never  entered.  There  are  some  things 
left  in  the  human  make-up,  "  not  dreamt  of  in  our 
philosophy,"  Oh,  brother  investigator  of  this  body 
"  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made." 

After  which  soaring,  we  will  descend  to  earth  again, 
lest,  Icarius-like,  our  wings  should  get  melted  and  our 
pride  become  our  ruin.  On  that  earth  we  find  our 
heroes  and  heroines  pursuing  the  unsentimental  hum 
drum  of  life.  Ruth  is  at  the  Hubbards,  nursing  her 
mother  and  packing  her  trunks  for  their  return  to 
New  York.  Dr.  Strong  is  driving  his  gig  around  the 
streets  of  New  York,  and  gaining  reputation  every  day. 
"  Oh,"  he  sighs,  "  I  wish  I  was  only  married ;  queer, 
isn't  it,  that  celibacy  stands  in  the  way  of  a  physician, 
yet  aids  a  clergyman.  There  is  Rev.  Alphonso  Spooks, 
his  church  was  crowded  with  fair  listeners,  and  his 
wardrobe  supplied  with  wrappers,  slippers,  etc.,  until 
he  was  married,  then  his  audience  dwindled  to  nothing, 
and  his  apparel  ceased  to  be  an  altar  for  the  sacrifices 


248  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

of  his  fair  worshippers;  while  I  am  confronted  daily 
by  some  mother  who  says,  *  Oh,  doctor,  why  don't 
you  get  married,  we  would  so  like  to  employ  you, 
but  you  know  the  girls  feel  a  delicacy.'  It  is  all  in 
their  mind,"  said  the  doctor,  and  this  expression  brought 
to  his  mind  Ruth  Page.  As  for  our  friend  Mortimer, 
he  has  been  busy  with  numerous  law  cases  and 
apparently  forgotten  that  there  ever  existed  such  a 
person  as  Miss  Alice  Dupont;  the  only  woman  now  in 
his  thoughts  being  Ruth,  whom  he  yearns  to  hail  as  a 
sister,  said  yearning  being  increased  by  the  admiration 
Ruth  excites  by  her  firm  refusal  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  him  until  her  sisterly  relation  is  fully  established. 
Our  other  friend,  Miss  Alice  Dupont,  has  returned  to 
New  York,  joined  Dr.  Gospeller's  church,  been  elected 
a  member  of  all  its  missionary  societies,  and,  in  what 
time  she  can  spare  from  attending  to  the  heathen  on 
the  other  side  of  the  globe,  is  trying  to  minister  to 
those  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Thus,  you  see,  all  our 
characters  are  at  the  present  juncture  removed  as  far 
from  the  emotional  state  as  possible,  yet,  perchance,  a 
single  spark  falling  into  one  heart  (pardon  our  ignor 
ance,  Oh,  physiologists,  we  should  have  said  one  mind) 
may  set  the  whole  aflame ;  as  the  historic  cow,  by 
overturning  a  single  lamp,  is  said  to  have  kindled  that 
great  fire  in  Chicago. 

Mortimer  was  sitting  in  his  office  when  a  plainly 
dressed  man  entered;  he  was  a  hard-faced  man,  one 
of  those  faces  which  grow  hard  from  the  desperate 
struggle  of  the  mind  over  earning  sustenance  for  the 
body.  His  first  salutation  was,  "  I  need  some  money, 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  249 

I  think  I  see  a  chance  to  make  it ;  I  hear  you're  a  very 
smart  lawyer,  I  want  you  to  take  my  case." 

"  State  your  case,"  said  Mortimer,  "and  I'll  let  you 
know  whether  it  can  be  honestly  made." 

The  man  did  not  seem  to  like  the  emphasis  Mortimer 
put  on  the  word  "  honestly."  He  said,  as  if  apologeti 
cally,  "  I  don't  want  to  cheat  any  man,  I  only  want  my 
rights." 

"  Well,  go  on  and  tell  me  your  story,"  said  Mortimer, 
"  then  I  can  decide  whether  you  have  any  rights  in  this 
case." 

"Mister,  the  story  is  this:  My  little  May  was  run 
over  by  a  carriage.  She  was  playing  in  the  street  — 
poor  child!  she  had  nowhere  else  to  play  —  and  a 
carriage  drove  fast  down  the  street,  and,  before  little 
May  could  get  out  of  the  road,  the  wheel  had  passed 
over  her  body.  Poor  May !  "  and  the  strong  man 
bowed  his  head  and  said  with  a  sob,  "  The  doctor  says 
she'll  be  a  cripple  for  life." 

"Whose  carriage  was  it?  "  asked  Mortimer. 

"  That  is  just  what  I  came  to  you  to  have  found  out," 
said  the  man,  "  for  I  want  to  sue  its  owner  for  damages." 

"  Did  not  the  carriage  stop  after  it  ran  over  the 
child?" 

"  No.  It  was  driven  by  a  darkey,  and  the  place 
where  May  was  run  over  was  just  by  a  corner,  and  the 
darkey  dashed  round  the  corner." 

"  Was  there  any  one  in  the  carriage  ? "  asked 
Mortimer. 

"That  I  don't  know,"  said  the  man.  "  It  was  one  of 
those  shut  up  carriages,  and  the  curtains  were  down." 


250  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"  It's  a  most  inhuman  act,"  said  Mortimer,  "  for 
any  one  to  run  over  a  child  without  stopping  to  see 
what  injury  they  have  done.  I  don't  so  much  wonder 
at  the  darkey's  doing  it,  for  he  had  the  fear  both  of  the 
law  and  loss  of  position,  but,  if  the  person  who 
owns  that  carriage  is  able,  they  ought  to  pay  for  your 
child's  injury.  I  will  take  your  case." 

"  On  how  much?  "  said  the  man,  —  "  one-half  of  what 
you  get?" 

"  On  nothing,"  said  Mortimer,  angrily.  "  I  am  doing 
this  not  for  money,  but  to  help  a  poor  fellow  being. 
I  want,  however,  to  know  whether  you  are  really  so 
poor  as  you  represent,"  and,  taking  his  hat,  Mortimer 
said,  "  I  will  first  go  with  you  and  see  the  child." 

The  man  led  Mortimer  to  a  room  in  the  third  story 
of  a  tenement  house.  The  room  was  scrupulously 
clean,  though  bare  of  comfort.  The  mother,  Mrs. 
William  Saunders,  was  of  that  honest-faced  Scotch 
peasantry  which  drink  in  the  Bible  and  their  catechism 
with  their  mother's  milk.  On  a  mattress  in  the  corner 
lay  her  only  child,  little  May,  a  sweet  blue-eyed  lassie 
of  eight  years,  whose  bright  eyes  and  cheerful  face 
seemed  to  give  the  lie  to  her  father's  assertion  that  she 
had  been  seriously  hurt.  Saunders,  seeing  the  look  of 
incredulity  on  Mortimer's  face,  pulled  back  the  bed 
clothes  and  pointed  to  the  limbs  of  little  May,  which 
were  indeed  paralyzed.  Mrs.  Saunders  seemed  from 
the  first  to  take  to  Mortimer.  So  did  the  child.  His 
heart  went  out  to  them  in  deep  sympathy.  He  said, 
"  Mr.  Saunders,  I  will  take  this  case,  and,  if  I  find  the 
owner  of  that  carriage  to  be  a  responsible  person,  will 
do  my  best  to  get  for  you  pecuniary  redress." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  251 

"I  don't  want  you  to  do  anything  dishonest,"  said 
the  Scotch  wife.  "  I  would  rather  bear  this  cross 
uncomplainingly." 

"  Hush,  wife,"  said  her  more  cautious  spouse.  "  There 
is  certainly  nothing  dishonest  in  trying  to  get  some 
money  for  our  little  May,  for,  otherwise,  if  we  should 
die  she  might  be  sent  to  the  poorhouse." 

"Mrs.  Saunders,"  interrupted  Mortimer,  "I  promise 
you  I  will  inflict  wrong  on  no  one,  but,  after  finding  the 
owner  of  the  carriage,  will  first  give  them  the  oppor 
tunity  to  do  something  for  little  May.  If  they  refuse, 
then  will  be  time  enough  to  determine  whether  to 
carry  this  matter  to  the  courts." 

"Well,"  said  Mrs.  Saunders  Designedly,  "you  seem 
to  be  an  honest  man,  though  you  are  a  lawyer.  I  will 
leave  the  case  to  your  best  judgment,  and  may  the  good 
Lord  direct  you." 

"  Saunders,"  said  Mortimer,  "  the  first  thing  to  do  is 
to  find  some  competent  witness  who  could  identify  that 
carriage." 

"  I  know  one,"  replied  Saunders,  "  my  neighbor, 
Tim  Jones.  He  was  coming  to  his  dinner  when  May 
was  run  over.  He  saw  the  carriage  and  driver,  and 
swears  he  could  identify  them  again." 

"  Send  him  to  my  office,"  said  Mortimer. 

Tim  came,  and,  after  being  put  through  a  severe 
examination,  Mortimer  was  satisfied  that  Tim  knew 
enough  to  identify  the  carriage.  "  Now,  Tim,"  he  said, 
"  I  want  you  to  return  here  in  an  hour.  In  the  mean 
while,  I  will  call  a  detective." 

At  the  time  appointed   Tim   reappeared,  and  said, 


252  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

"  Mr.  Mortimer,  I  saw  that  very  carriage  just  now 
standing  a  few  doors  from  your  office." 

Hearing  this,  the  detective  hurried  him  away  in 
pursuit,  and  in  a  short  time  returned,  saying,  "  We 
have  got  the  carriage  and  Tim  has  identified  it  and  the 
darkey.  We  have  brought  them  both  to  your  door." 

Mortimer  hurried  down  and  found  a  coupe.  Its 
blinds  were  down ;  Mortimer  opened  its  door,  and 
there  sat  very  composedly  —  Miss  Alice  Dupont ! 
Miss  Dupont  said  nothing,  but  hurled  a  contemptuous 
glance  at  Mortimer,  who  was  completely  upset.  "  Miss 
Dupont,"  he  began,  "  I  beg  your  pardon.  I  had  no 
idea  that  it  was  your  carriage  which  my  man  had 
stopped.  Please  excuse  me  and  proceed  on  your 
way." 

"  No,  Mr.  Mortimer,  I  shall  do  no  such  thing.  The 
grave  accusation  has  been  made  against  my  servant 
that  he  ran  over  a  child  and  has  injured  it  for  life.  If  this 
be  the  case,  I  wish  all  possible  reparation  to  be  made. 
You  will  oblige  me  if  you  will  tell  me  where  the  child 
lives.  I  will  meet  you  there  and  see  what  reparation 
should  be  made." 

Mortimer  gave  the  number,  and,  hailing  a  cab, 
followed  Alice's  carriage  and  arrived  at  the  Saunders' 
in  time  to  offer  to  assist  her  in  alighting.  Alice 
declined  his  assistance  and  coldly  said,  "  If  Mr.  Mor 
timer  will  lead  the  way  to  the  child's  room  I  will 
follow." 

Mrs.  Saunders  was  surprised  to  see  Mortimer  enter 
accompanied  by  a  lady.  The  former  was  about  to 
make  explanations,  when  Alice,  stepping  forward,  said, 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  253 

"  I  have  learned,  to  my  great  sorrow,  that  my  servant 
ran  over  and  seriously  injured  your  child.  I  was  not 
in  my  carriage  at  the  time.  Had  I  been  I  should  have 
stopped  and  rendered  assistance.  I  come  now  to  do 
everything  in  my  power  to  atone  for  the  injury." 

Mrs.  Saunders'  heart  was  touched.  "  Sure,"  she  said, 
"  such  a  fair  lady  as  yourself  would  not  injure  any  one. 
Here  is  the  child  that  was  hurt,"  and  she  led  her'  to 
May's  bedside. 

"  Alice  stooped  and  kissed  May.  The  tears  started 
in  her  eyes  as  she  saw  the  paralyzed  condition  of  the 
little  sufferer,  and  she  asked,  "What  physician  have 
you?  " 

The  mother  answered,  "  The  physician  to  the  poor." 

"  Well,"  said  Alice,  "  I  will  send  my  own  physician 
immediately.  I  will  also  see  that  more  comfortable 
quarters  are  provided  for  you  all,"  and,  glancing  at 
Mortimer  with  a  look  of  scorn,  she  added,  "Your 
lawyer  need  not  bring  suit.  Let  him  state  the  damages 
expected,  and,  if  not  wholly  unreasonable,  they  will  be 
paid." 

Mortimer  was  stung  to  the  quick.  He  stepped 
forward  and  said,  "Miss  Dupont,  Mrs.  Saunders  will 
bear  witness  that  I  counselled  her  to  make  no  legal 
claim  for  the  injury  inflicted  on  her  child  until  the 
injurer  should  have  the  opportunity  of  offering 
reparation." 

"  Yes,"  broke  in  Mrs.  Saunders,  whose  wrath  began 
to  rise  at  having  Mortimer  assailed.  "  Far  be  it  from 
me  to  touch  one  penny  of  your  money,  miss.  I 
am  poor  and  afflicted,  but  I  can  earn  my  living 


254  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

without   the   help    of    those   who    have    injured    me." 

It  was  now  Alice's  turn  to  feel  rebuked.  She  saw 
her  desire  to  be  avenged  on  Mortimer  had  carried  her 
too  far.  "I  beg,"  she  said,  "both  yours  and  Mr. 
Mortimer's  pardon  for  impugning  the  motives  of 
either,  but  I  do  plead  for  the  favor  of  doing  all  I  can 
for  the  little  sufferer.  May  I  not,  Mrs.  Saunders?  "  and 
she  went  and  laid  her  hand  affectionately  on  Mrs. 
Saunders'  shoulder  and  looked  up  in  her  face  with  a 
winning  smile. 

The  mother's  heart  was  melted,  and  she  answered, 
"  Sure,  and  we  will  be  friends,  if  your  ladyship  so 
wish." 

Alice  left  the  room,  and  Mortimer,  soon  after,  the 
house.  He  was  thoroughly  angered.  Pride  added  to  his 
resentment,  for,  just  before  Alice  left,  he  had  politely 
said,  "  Miss  Dupont  will  please  command  me  in  any 
way  that  I  can  be  of  service  to  her,"  and  Alice  had 
answered,  with  a  supercilious  air,  "  I  cannot  imagine 
anything  in  which  Mr.  Mortimer  can  be  of  service  to 
Miss  Dupont." 

"  I  am  half  a  mind,"  said  Mortimer,  "  to  enter  suit 
against  Miss  Alice  Dupont  for  the  injury  inflicted  on 
little  May.  It  might  bring  down  a  little  the  airs  of 
her  ladyship." 

The  next  day  Mr.  John  Parks  called  on  Mr.  Mortimer 
and  handed  him  a  check  of  $10,000,  signed  by  Miss 
Alice  Dupont.  "  Miss  Dupont,"  he  said,  "  besides  this, 
agrees  to  pay  a  year's  rent  for  the  Saunders  and  to 
obtain  for  Mr.  Saunders  a  much  better  situation  than 
he  at  present  occupies.  If  Mr.  Mortimer  does  not  deem 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGE1A.  255 

this  sufficient  reparation,  Miss  Dupont  would  be  glad  to 
be  so  informed." 

"  I  am  not  the  one  to  determine  this  matter/'  answered 
Mortimer.  "  That  must  be  left  to  the  parents  of  the 
child,  but  I  shall  frankly  tell  them  that,  in  my  opinion, 
Miss  Dupont  has  done  already  more  than  could  be 
legally  required." 

"  I  never  knew  Miss  Dupont  to  do  otherwise,"  said 
Mr.  Parks,  glad  to  get  in  a  side  hit  at  one  whom  he  knew 
was  Alice's  former  lover.  "  Indeed,  I  have  been  very 
much  impressed  in  my  acquaintance  with  Miss  Dupont, 
which,  lately,  I  may  say,  has  been  quite  intimate,  that 
she  is  a  lady  of  the  highest  character." 

Mortimer  politely  bowed,  though  he  felt  like  pitching 
Mr.  John  Parks  out  of  his  office  window. 

The  latter  rose  and  said,  "  Of  course,  Mr.  Mortimer, 
if  you  have  any  communication  to  make  to  Miss 
Dupont  in  regard  to  the  acceptance  of  her  offer  by 
your  clients,  you  will  address  it  through  me." 

"  I  believe  I  understand,  Mr.  Parks,"  said  Mortimer, 
with  a  touch  of  irony  in  his  tone,  "  the  proprieties  of 
this  matter  without  troubling  you  for  further  advice." 

The  Saunders  were  only  too  glad  to  accept  the 
generous  provision  of  Alice.  Mortimer  took  care 
that  a  full  release  should  be  given  by  them  of  all  claims 
against  the  Duponts  and  even  the  unlucky  driver.  This 
he  sent  not  to  Mr.  John  Parks,  but  to  Mr.  Dupont. 
Her  father  was  shocked  at  finding  the  sum  Alice  had 
paid,  and  asked,  "  Did  that  rascal  Mortimer  wheedle 
you  out  of  it?  " 

"  No,"  said  Alice.     "  Mr.  Mortimer  had  nothing  to 


256  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

do  with  it,  but  it  was  worth  ten  thousand  dollars  to  me  to 
have  an  opportunity  of  showing  my  scorn  for  William 
Mortimer,"  which  remark  was  decidedly  unchristian, 
coming  from  a  lady  lately  professing  such  a  change  of 
heart,  but  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  most  men  and 
women  interpret  the  command  "  to  love  their  enemies  " 
as  having  one  important  exception,  —  those  who  have 
jilted  them. 


OR,   THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  257 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

DR.    STRONG   SUGGESTS    A    CURIOUS    MENTAL    METHOD 
FOR   RECOVERING  THE   LOST    DOCUMENT. 

Though  Mrs.  Page  had  recovered  her  memory,  her 
system  remained  prostrated  by  the  mental  tension  she 
had  undergone.  It  was,  therefore,  late  in  the  fall 
before  she  could  be  removed  to  New  York.  This 
interval  was  one  of  deep  anxiety  to  Ruth,  who  was 
impatient  to  return  and  search  for  the  missing  docu 
ment.  At  last,  however,  with  the  assistance  of  Esther 
(who,  through  Ruth's  earnest  entreaty,  had  accompanied 
her  home),  Mrs.  Page  was  safely  moved  to  her  New 
York  residence.  Hardly  had  they  got  settled  before 
Dr.  Strong  appeared  on  the  scene.  Ruth  felt  a 
mingled  embarrassment  and  relief  in  the  doctor's 
presence.  His  words  at  the  garden  gate  still  rang  in 
her  ears,  yet  she  felt  the  need  of  some  one  to  counsel 
her  in  the  present  dilemma,  and,  since  Dr.  Strong  fully 
understood  her  mother's  history,  he  seemed  to  Ruth  a  sort 
of  providential  prop  to  lean  upon.  Mortimer  also  en 
couraged  the  doctor's  visits  to  the  Pages,  as  they  enabled 
him  to  keep  informed  of  the  state  of  affairs  in  that 
household,  which,  in  the  meanwhile,  resolved  itself  into 


258  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCXE-NTIST, 

an  investigating  committee.  Ruth  and  Esther  searched 
every  room,  closet,  drawer  for  the  missing  paper. 
They  took  up  carpets,  they  went  over  Mrs.  Page's 
private  papers,  but,  alas !  no  trace  of  the  missing 
document  was  found.  Of  this  state  of  affairs  Dr.  Strong 
was  cognizant,  and  he  racked  his  own  brain  for  devices 
to  assist  Mrs.  Page's  memory.  Ruth  appreciated  the 
doctor's  kindness,  but,  alas !  their  views  were  so 
opposite  on  the  general  operations  of  the  mind  that, 
though  many  plans  were  proposed  by  the  doctor,  none 
seemed  to  impress  Ruth  favorably. 

One  evening  the  doctor  rang  the  door-bell  so  violently 
as  to  astonish  its  inmates.  Ruth,  who  happened  to  be 
looking  through  the  parlor  blind,  seeing  the  agitated 
condition  of  her  visitor,  hastened  to  open  the  door 
herself. 

"  Oh,  Miss  Page,"  burst  out  the  doctor,  as  soon  as 
they  met,  "  I  have  discovered  a  sure  way  for  stimu 
lating  your  mother's  memory.  Now  please  hear  me 
patiently,  for  I  realize  that  I  must  first  convince  you 
that  it  is  not  at  variance  with  your  theories  of  the 
relation  of  the  mind  to  the  body.  I  have  been  carefully 
studying  the  effects  of  hypnotism  and  of  the  somnam 
bulistic  state,  and  I  find  numerous  examples  of  the 
recovery  of  lost  links  of  memory  when  a  mind  is  in  this 
condition.  Mr.  Braid's  experiments  in  this  direction 
are  peculiarly  interesting.*  Mr.  Braid  discovered  that 


*See  Carpenter's  full  endorsement  of  the  fact  of  artificial  somnambulism  in  his 
Mental  Physiology,  chapter  XV.  Tuke,  in  his  Influence  of  the  Mind  on  the  Body, 
says,  "The  investigations  of  Mr.  Braid  did  throw  a  flood  of  light  on  the  influence 
of  the  mind  over  the  body."  Tuke  also  claims  that  Braid's  investigations  were  but 
a  repetition  on  an  extensive  scale  of  Sir  John  Hunter's  experiments  on  himself. 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  259 

by  the  subject's  own  muscular  sense,  ideas  could  be 
suggested  to  the  mind  of  the  hypnotized  somnambule. 
Thus,  if  the  hand  be  placed  on  the  top  of  the  head,  the 
somnambule  will  draw  himself  up  and  assume  a 
demeanor  of  the  most  lofty  pride ;  or,  if  his  head  be 
bent  forward  and  the  hands  folded  together,  the 
somnambule  will  assume  the  attitude  of  reverent 
devotion."  * 

"  But  this  looks  like  magnetism,  Dr.  Strong,  and  we 
Christian  Scientists  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
magnetism." 

"  I  realize  that  fact,"  said  the  doctor,  "  and  it's  not 
that  phase  of  hypnotism  that  I  want  to  utilize.  All 
you  will  need  in  your  mother's  case  is  to  avail  yourself 
of  one  feature  of  the  somnambulistic  state,  one  which 
exactly  accords  with  your  theories  of  Christian  Science, 
namely,  the  supremacy  of  the  mind  when  its  native 
powers  are  unfettered.  It  is  one  peculiarity  of  som 
nambulism  that  no  remembrance  is  preserved  of  anything 
that  has  occurred  during  its  continuance.  This  state 
is,  in  fact,  the  highest  condition  of  mental  action,  for 
the  mind  is  not  disturbed  or  distracted  by  external 
objects.  Yea,  therein  mind  asserts  its  supremacy  over 
outward  sensation,  man  is  for  once  independent  of 
his  environment,  so  that  the  sleeper  clambers  dizzy 
heights,  traverses  narrow  planks ;  this  the  mind, 
distracted  by  its  waking  state,  would  not  dare  to 
attempt.  I  cannot  see,  Miss  Page,  a  better  argument 
for  the  truth  of  your  theory  as  to  the  native  inde 
pendence  of  the  mind  of  all  external  causation  than 

*  Carpenter,  page  6oa. 


260  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

this  experiment  if  it  should  prove  successful.  You 
also  can  aid  in  this  by  directing  the  current  of  your 
mother's  thoughts,  for  it  has  been  often  noticed  that  if 
the  mind  has  been  strongly  impressed  with  a  subject 
before  falling  asleep  it  will  continue  that  subject  in  its 
sleeping  hours." 

"Well,"  said  Ruth,  thoughtfully,  "there  does  seem 
to  be  much  in  what  you  say,  doctor.  I  can  easily  see 
how  God  could  use  this  particular  state  to  direct  my 
mother's  mind  to  the  place  where  the  document  lies 
hid.  Besides,  I  can  tell  you  something  which  I  have 
never  before  mentioned,  —  that,  since  my  mother's  late 
sickness,  she  has  often  walked  in  her  sleep." 

When  Ruth  mentioned  this,  the  doctor  was  in  an 
ecstasy  of  delight,  and  said,  "  There  is,  then,  a  strong 
probability  of  your  having  an  opportunity  to  try  this 
experiment  on  your  mother." 

"  Oh,  how  I  wish  that  opportunity  would  soon  come  !  " 
said  Ruth,  with  a  sigh. 

"Well,  Miss  Ruth,"  said  the  doctor,  cautiously 
feeling  his  way,  "  one  method  of  inducing  somnam 
bulism  is  by  inducing  the  patient  to  maintain  a  fixed 
gaze  on  some  object,  thus  stimulating  the  faculty  of 
concentrated  attention.  Mr.  Braid  always  hypnotized 
his  patients  by  first  inducing  them  to  maintain  a  fixed 
gaze  on  some  object." 

"But,1*  said  Ruth,  "this  again  seems  to  me  to  savor 
of  magnetism." 

14  True,"  argued  the  doctor,  "  but  all  that  magnetism 
really  does  accomplish  is  through  utilizing  the  natural 
tendencies  of  the  mind.  We  all  know  that  a  fixed 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  26l 

look  at  anything  will  accelerate  our  falling  asleep; 
thus  the  auditor  of  a  tiresome  sermon  finds  that  his 
efforts  to  keep  awake,  by  fixing  his  attention  on  the 
speaker,  only  increases  his  sleepiness.  I  do  not  ask 
you  to  abandon  one  of  your  mind-cure  theories,  but  I 
do  plead  with  you  to  utilize  this  means  of  letting  your 
mother's  mind,  freed  from  the  distractions  of  this 
material  earth,  assert  its  own  prerogative  and  develop 
its  natural  powers.  Let  me  read  to  you,"  said  the 
doctor,  "  a  well  authenticated  case  which  is  quoted  in 
Carpenter's  '  Mental  Physiology,'  of  the  wonderful 
stimulating  effect  to  the  brain  of  a  somnambulistic 
state.  Carpenter  says :  *  The  following  was  narrated 
by  the  Rev.  John  de  Liefde,  as  the  experience  of  a 
brother  clergyman,  on  whose  veracity  he  could  fully 
rely: 

" '  I  was  a  student  of  the  Mennonite  Seminary  at 
Amsterdam,  and  attended  the  mathematical  lectures  of 
Prof.  Van  Swinden.  Now,  it  happened  that  once  a 
banking-house  had  given  the  professor  a  question  to 
resolve,  which  required  a  difficult  and  prolix  calculation ; 
and  often,  already,  had  the  mathematician  tried  to  find 
out  the  problem ;  but  as,  to  effect  this,  some  sheets  of 
paper  had  to  be  covered  with  figures,  the  learned  man 
at  each  trial  had  made  a  mistake.  Thus,  not  to  fatigue 
himself,  he  communicated  the  puzzle  to  ten  of  his 
students  —  me  amongst  the  number  —  and  begged  us 
to  attempt  its  unravelling  at  home.  My  ambition  did 
not  allow  me  any  delay.  I  set  to  work  the  same 
evening,  but  without  success.  Another  evening  was 
sacrificed  to  my  undertaking,  but  fruitlessly.  At  last  I 


262  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

bent  over  my  figures  for  a  third  evening.  It  was 
winter,  and  I  calculated  till  half  past  one  in  the  morn 
ing —  all  to  no  purpose!  the  product  was  erroneous. 
Low  at  heart,  I  threw  down  my  pencil,  which  already 
by  that  time  had  beciphered  three  slates.  I  hesitated 
whether  I  could  toil  the  night  through,  and  begin  my 
calculation  anew,  as  I  knew  that  the  professor  wanted 
an  answer  the  very  same  morning.  But  lo  !  my  candle 
was  already  burned  in  the  socket,  and,  alas,  the  persons 
with  whom  I  lived  had  long  gone  to  rest.  Then  I  also 
went  to  bed,  my  head  filled  with  ciphers,  and  tired  in 
mind  I  fell  asleep.  In  the  morning  I  awoke  just  early 
enough  to  dress  and  prepare  myself  to  go  to  the 
lecture ;  vexed  at  heart  at  not  having  been  able  to 
solve  the  question,  and  at  having  to  disappoint  my 
teacher.  But,  oh,  wonder  !  as  I  approached  my  writing 
table,  I  find  on  it  a  paper,  with  figures  in  my  own  hand, 
and  (think  of  my  astonishment!)  the  whole  problem 
on  it  solved  quite  right,  and  without  a  single  blunder. 
I  wanted  to  ask  of  my  hospita  whether  any  one  had 
been  in  my  room,  but  was  stopped  by  my  own  writing. 
Afterwards  I  told  her  what  had  occurred,  and  she 
herself  wondered  at  the  event,  for  she  assured  me  no 
one  had  entered  my  apartment.  Thus  I  must  have 
calculated  the  problem  in  my  sleep,  and  in  the  dark  to 
boot;  and  what  is  most  remarkable,  the  computation 
was  so  succinct,  that,  what  I  saw  now  before  me  on  a 
single  folio  sheet,  had  required  three  slatefulls  closely 
beciphered  on  both  sides  during  my  waking  state. 
Prof.  Von  Swinden  was  quite  amazed  at  the  event,  and 
declared  to  me  that  whilst  calculating  the  problem 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  263 

himself,  he  had  never  once  thought  of  a  solution  so 
simple  and  concise.'  "  * 

The  doctor's  skilful  casuistry,  reinforced  by  this 
example,  converted  Ruth  to  trying  the  experiment. 
When  Ruth  communicated  her  purpose  to  Esther  Bates, 
the  latter  denounced  it  as  a  "  delusion  and  a  snare." 
"  You  are  leaving  God  to  trust  in  an  arm  of  flesh,"  she 
said. 

"  No,"  answered  Ruth,  "  dear  Esther,  God  has  often 
used  the  sleeping  state  to  communicate  knowledge  to 
His  people ;  see  how  he  directed  by  a  dream  the  Wise 
Men  in  respect  to  the  way  they  should  travel,  also  by 
the  same  instrument  the  journeyings  of  the  parents  of 
our  Lord.  Does  not  the  Bible  clearly  teach  that  God 
can  reveal  to  man  while  in  sleep  knowledge  which  he 
could  not  otherwise  obtain."  f 

"  Well,"  answered  Esther,  resignedly,  "  I  will  not 
interfere  with  your  expectations,  for  I  know  that  God 
can  use  even  the  foolishness  of  man  to  accomplish  his 
own  purposes." 

Ruth  could  hardly  suppress  a  smile  at  the  blunt 
honestness  of  Esther,  however  uncomplimentary  to 
herself,  and  she  answered,  "  Well,  Esther,  you  pray  and 
I  will  watch." 

*  Carpenter's  Principles  of  Mental  Physiology,  page  593.     London  edition, 
f  Job,  XXXIII,  14-17. 


264  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

RUTH'S   EXPERIMENT    ON    HER    MOTHER.      A   SOMNAM 
BULISTIC    FEAT. 

With  beating  heart  and  hurried  footsteps  Ruth  hied 
to  her  mother's  room,  expecting  to  find  her  asleep,  for 
Dr.  Strong  had  prolonged  his  call  to  a  late  hour.  To 
Ruth's  surprise  her  mother  was  sitting,  in  her  robe  d'nuit, 
by  the  open  grate,  gazing  therein  in  deep  abstraction. 
"  A  penny  for  your  thoughts,"  said  Ruth,  as  she 
stooped  over  her  mother's  chair. 

Mrs.  Page  raised  her  eyes  to  her  daughter's  and  said, 
in  a  tone  which  indicated  deep  agitation,  "  Ruth,  I  was 
pondering  over  that  lost  paper.  The  more  I  think  of 
it,  the  more  I  am  persuaded  it  is  somewhere  in  this 
room.  I  was  thinking  whether  some  one  might  not 
have  entered  the  room  during  our  absence  and 
abstracted  it." 

"  Mother,"  said  Ruth,  soothingly,  drawing  her 
mother's  head  to  her  own  bosom  and  gently  stroking 
her  brow,  "  Mother,  you  must  stop  worrying  about  that 
paper,  because  your  very  worry  throws  your  mind  off 
its  normal  track  and  confuses  your  memory.  What 
you  now  need  is  sleep.  Come,  let  me  try  to  put  you 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  265 

to  sleep,  as  I  have  often  done,  by  passing  my  hand 
lightly  over  your  forehead." 

"  Well,  I  must  lie  down  first,"  said  her  mother. 

Mrs.  Page  threw  herself  on  the  bed,  and  Ruth,  having 
carefully  arranged  her  mother's  pillows,  sat  by  her  side 
and  gently  stroked  her  forehead.  Ruth  said  nothing, 
for  she  did  not  want  to  interrupt  the  current  of  her 
mother's  thoughts,  which  had  been  last  occupied  with 
the  missing  manuscript.  Ruth  also  tried  to  concen 
trate  her  own  mind  on  the  subject  of  the  lost 
manuscript,  because,  according  to  her  Christian 
Science,  there  is  a  way  of  communication  between  the 
mind  or  spirit  of  one  and  the  mind  or  spirit  of  another, 
by  which  thought  may  be  transmitted  and  an  influence 
exerted.* 

It  was  not  long  before  Mrs.  Page  sank  into  a  gentle 
slumber  which  soon  passed  into  a  deep  sleep.  Once 
Mrs.  Page  started  when  a  knock  came  on  the  door 
and  Esther  entered,  who  had  been  spending*  a  night  of 
special  prayer  for  Ruth,  and,  with  her  faith,  "  as  large  as 
a  grain  of  mustard-seed,"  had  been  mixed  some  larger 
grains  of  female  curiosity.  Ruth  motioned  to  Esther 
not  to  disturb  her  mother,  and,  turning  to  the  sleeping 
one,  gently  stroked  her  forehead.  Mrs.  Page  again 
sank  into  a  deep  slumber.  Ruth  gently  glided  to 
Esther's  side  and  whispered,  "  I  think  an  opportunity 
will  come  to-night  for  testing  the  effect  of  the  somnam 
bulistic  state  on  my  mother's  memory." 

Esther  shook  her  head.  She  had  no  faith  in  such 
psychological  experiments;  she  stuck  to  faith  and 

*W.  T.  Evans'  Divine  Law  of  Cure,  page  277. 


266  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

prayer.  Still,  her  kind  heart  sympathized  with  the 
anxious  daughter,  and,  gently  kissing  Ruth,  Esther 
said,  "  I  will  return  to  my  room  and  my  knees." 

So  they  parted,  Esther  for  her  devotions,  Ruth  for 
her  sentinel-like  position  at  her  mother's  bedside. 
Ruth  noticed  that  her  mother  was  evidently  dreaming. 
There  were  starts,  sometimes  sobs.  Indeed,  Mrs.  Page 
seemed  so  agitated  by  her  dream  that  Ruth  was  about 
to  awaken  her,  when  a  sweet  smile  stole  over  her 
mother's  face.  A  suppressed  sigh  of  relief  followed. 
Then,  to  the  surprise  of  Ruth,  Mrs.  Page  sat  up,  then 
rose  up.  Ruth  was  about  to  place  a  restraining 
hand  upon  her  mother,  when  she  noticed  that  the 
latter  was  fast  asleep.  Her  eyes  were  indeed  open,  but 
they  had  that  vacant  look  which  characterizes  the 
somnambulistic  state.  Ruth,  trembling  with  excite 
ment,  withdrew  from  her  mother's  side  and  watched. 

Mrs.  Page  walked  calmly  and  steadily  to  a  chair  in 
the  centre  of  the  room.  Lifting  it,  she  took  it  to  the 
front  of  her  wardrobe  (which  stood  at  the  other  end  of 
the  room),  then,  mounting  the  chair  and  standing  on 
tiptoe,  felt  with  her  hand  over  the  top  of  the  wardrobe. 
A  look  of  disappointment  passed  over  her  face.  Evi 
dently  she  had  found  nothing.  She  halted  for  a 
moment,  as  if  in  perplexity,  then,  descending  from  the 
chair,  took  a  higher  one,  and,  mounting  it,  reached  her 
hand  completely  over  the  wardrobe,  so  that  she  could 
pass  it  behind  its  back,  then  drew  forth  a  waterproof. 
With  intense  eagerness  Ruth  now  watched  every 
movement  of  her  mother,  who  first  shook  the  water 
proof,  as  if  expecting  something  to  fall  from  it,  but, 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  267 

alas  !  nothing  fell  to  the  ground.  With  a  groan,  Ruth 
saw  her  mother  again  begin  to  fold  up  the  waterproof. 

"  Alas  !  "  she  said  to  herself,  "  the  somnambulistic 
state  did  indeed  set  my  mother's  mind  on  a  track  of 
thought,  but  it  proves,  like  those  pursued  in  her 
waking  state,  to  be  the  wrong  one." 

But  look !  Mrs.  Page,  after  folding  up  the  article, 
paused,  hesitated,  then  unfolded  it  again,  and,  putting 
her  hand  into  a  pocket  on  its  inside  lining,  drew  out  a 
bundle  of  papers.  Ruth  was  now  so  agitated  that  she 
had  to  support  herself  by  a  chair.  Mrs.  Page,  however, 
seemed  perfectly  composed.  She  deliberately  seated 
herself  by  the  centre-table,  laid  the  package  on  it, 
untied  its  cords,  broke  its  seal  and  took  out  three 
papers.  The  first  she  glanced  at  and  laid  aside ;  so 
with  the  second.  But  the  third  she  carefully  inspected, 
then  gave  a  nod,  as  if  of  approbation,  returned  to  her 
bed,  carefully  put  it  under  her  pillow  and  went  on  in 
her  sleep,  which  was  as  calm  as  that  of  a  babe  on  its 
mother's  bosom. 

Ruth  was  so  agitated  that  she  could  hardly  keep 
from  crying  out.  However,  waiting  quietly,  until 
persuaded  that  her  mother  would  not  be  disturbed  by 
her  movements,  she  glided  to  the  bed,  slipped  her 
hand  under  Mrs.  Page's  pillow  and  withdrew  the 
packet;  then  carrying  it  to  the  table,  turned  up  the  gas 
and  proceeded  to  inspect  its  contents.  The  first  paper 
was  a  letter  from  Eugene  Mortimer  to  his  first  wife 
acknowledging  one  of  her's,  which  had  stated  her 
purpose  to  leave  Grasslands  and  apply  for  a  divorce. 
The  second  was  a  letter  from  Eugene  Mortimer,  ap- 


268  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

pointing  a  final  interview  with  his  first  wife  in  order 
to  agree  on  some  provision  for  her  yet  unborn  child. 
The  third  was  a  paper,  from  the  very  reading  of  the 
title  of  which  Ruth  knew  it  was  the  long-sought-for 
document,  this  she  opened  and  carefully  read.  It 
fully  corroborated  Mrs.  Page's  statement  that  Eugene 
Mortimer  had  given  her  the  $50,000,  in  consideration  of 
her  agreeing  to  a  divorce,  and  for  the  maintenance  of 
herself  and  her  unborn  child. 

Ruth  sank  on  her  knees  and  uttered  a  fervent  prayer 
of  gratitude  to  God.  She  was  about  to  awaken  her 
mother  when  Esther  glided  into  the  room ;  the  latter, 
while  spending  the  night  in  prayer,  had  somehow  felt, 
about  that  time,  that  her  prayers  were  answered.  She 
came  down  to  reassure  the  anxious  heart  of  Ruth  and 
found  her  with  the  document  in  her  hand.  It  was  well 
that  Esther  came,  for  she  suggested  to  Ruth  to  let  her 
mother  sleep  quietly  on  till  the  morning,  when,  refreshed 
by  her  night's  slumber,  her  train  of  memory  could 
better  recall  the  history  of  the  waterproof.  Both 
Esther  and  Ruth  were  with  Mrs.  Page,  when,  after  her 
morning  breakfast,  she  sat  down  to  chat  with  them. 

"  Hope  you  had  pleasant  dreams  last  night,  mother," 
said  Ruth. 

"  No,"  answered  Mrs.  Page,  "  I  really  had  no  dreams  ; 
I  fell  asleep  thinking  about  that  lost  document,  but  it 
went  out  of  my  mind  when  I  woke  this  morning."  * 

"Well,  mother,"  said  Ruth,  "I  had  a  sort  of  dream 
about  it." 

*  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  somnambulists  never  recollect  on  waking  the 
thoughts  which  have  passed  through  their  minds  during  previous  sleep,  or  the 
events  with  which  their  actions  have  been  concerned. 


OR,    THE   NEW    HYGEIA.  269 

"What  was  it?"  eagerly  asked  Mrs.  Page. 

"Why,  I  thought  that  you  put  that  paper  in  the 
pocket  of  a  waterproof  which  you  had  mislaid  before 
you  started  for  the  country." 

Mrs.  Page  thought  for  a  moment,  pressed  her  hand 
to  her  brow,  then  looking  wildly  at  Ruth,  exclaimed, 
"  Oh !  it  has  all  come  back  to  me  now.  Yes,  I 
remember  that  in  dressing  for  the  train  I  took  that 
bundle  of  papers  from  my  bosom  and  put  it  in  the 
pocket  of  a  waterproof  expecting  to  replace  it  in  my 
bosom.  You  remember,  Ruth,  that  you  looked  at  your 
watch  and  found  that  we  barely  had  time  to  reach  the 
train,  in  the  hurry  I  forgot  all  about  the  paper  until  I 
got  into  the  train  and  found  it  was  gone,  then  I  thought 
I  would  yet  find  it  in  my  trunk,  as  that  was  its  usual 
depository  when  I  removed  it  from  my  bosom.  I  forgot 
all  about  putting  it  in  the  pocket  of  the  waterproof." 
Then,  again  pressing  her  hands  on  her  brow,  she 
exclaimed,  "  Where  could  I  have  put  that  waterproof? 
Ah,  yes,  I  remember  now,  in  my  haste  I  tossed  some 
thing  on  the  top  of  that  wardrobe." 

In  a  moment  Mrs.  Page  had  siezed  a  chair  and 
placed  it  by  the  side  of  the  wardrobe.  But  Ruth 
sprang  to  her  side  and  gently  folding  her  in  her  arms, 
said,  "  Mother,  all  is  well,  the  document  is  found,  I 
have  it,"  and  she  drew  the  package  from  her  pocket 
and  placed  it  in  her  mother's  hand. 


270  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

A  LOVE-TIE   BROKEN   AND  A  RELATIONSHIP  ACKNOWL 
EDGED. 

On  what  small  hinges  turn  the  doors  of  our  lives ! 
The  finding  of  that  document  was,  indeed,  the  turning 
point  in  the  lives  of  many  of  our  characters.  Esther, 
after  the  scene  just  narrated,  hurried  to  Mortimer's 
office  and  recounted  the  finding  of  the  lost  paper. 
Mortimer  at  once  telephoned  for  Dr.  Strong,  who,  on 
hearing  Esther's  account,  exclaimed,  "  Surely,  William, 
there  is  now  sufficient  proof  of  Mrs.  Page's  statement 
to  warrant  you  and  Ruth  in  recognizing  your  relation 
ship." 

"  Enough  to  convince  my  heart,"  said  Mortimer, 
"  which  has  been  longing  to  claim  Ruth's  sisterly 
affection ;  still,  as  a  lawyer,  I  see  some  missing  links  to 
make  the  chain  of  evidence  complete,  yet  I  am  willing, 
if  Ruth  is,  to  at  once  recognize  our  relationship.  I  can 
see,"  he  added,  "  some  benefit  in  our  meeting  now,  for 
it  will  enable  us  to  consult  together  concerning  further 
proofs.  Besides,  there  may  be  a  little  awkwardness  in 
our  meeting  as  brother  and  sister  for  the  first  time,  but 
if  we  could  now  become  a  little  acquainted,  when 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  2JI 

further  proofs  arrive  we  would  be  prepared  for  brotherly 
and  sisterly  demonstrations." 

Dr.  Strong  smiled  and  said,  "Well,  there  is  some 
thing  in  your  view  of  the  case,  would  you  like  me  to 
see  your  sister,  for  such  I  shall  henceforth  call  her,  and 
arrange  for  your  meeting?  " 

"  Certainly,"  said  Mortimer,  "  you  could  not  do  me  a 
greater  favor." 

So  the  doctor  drove  hastily  to  Mrs.  Page's.  He 
had  hardly  entered  the  parlor  when  Ruth  came  in. 
Her  first  exclamation  was,  "  Oh,  doctor,  how  can  I 
thank  you  enough  for  your  suggestion  about  my  mother. 
It  has  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  the  paper,"  and 
she  was  beginning  to  narrate  the  events  of  the  last 
night,  when  Dr.  Strong  interposed  with,  "Yes,  Miss 
Page,  Esther  has  been  to  Mortimer  and  told  him  all, 
and  I  come  to  say  he  thinks  the  time  has  arrived  when 
you  ought  to  meet  each  other;  he  is  sufficiently 
persuaded  of  the  fact  of  your  mutual  relationship." 

Ruth  hesitated  and  pondered.  At  last  she  said, 
"  Please,  Dr.  Strong,  tell  Mr.  Mortimer  that  I  shall  be 
happy  to  meet  him." 

But  the  doctor  still  lingered,  a  desire  mounted  to  his 
heart  to  come  to  some  understanding  with  Ruth.  He 
felt  sad,  that  in  this  matter  of  recognized  relationship 
he  had  no  part ;  he  also  saw  that  the  mind  of  Ruth 
would  now  be  absorbed  with  her  brother,  and  feared 
that  he  himself  might  drift  out  of  her  thoughts.  Ruth 
was  so  preoccupied  with  her  own  joy  that  she  did  not 
at  first  notice  the  doctor's  melancholy,  but  suddenly  in 
the  midst  of  her  animated  conversation,  she  paused  and 


272  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

said,  "  Why,  Dr.  Strong,  you  do  not  seem  to  rejoice  as 
much  as  we  do  over  this."  Then  fearing  she  had  not 
shown  sufficient  gratitude  for  Dr.  Strong's  part  in  the 
happy  denouement,  she  added,  "  I  am  afraid  I  have  not 
expressed  fully  how  grateful  mother  and  I  feel  to  you. 
We  shall  never  forget  your  kindness." 

"  Don't  speak  of  it,"  said  the  doctor,  "  there  is  nothing 
in  the  world  that  I  would  not  do  to  serve  you'' 

Ruth  started,  for  the  doctor's  tone  and  look  reminded 
her  of  his  parting  words  at  the  Hubbard's.  Uncon 
sciously  she  blushed,  and  ill-concealed  her  own  agitation. 
The  doctor  felt  encouraged  to  proceed.  "  Miss  Page," 
he  said,  "  I  am  the  only  one  who  seems  to  be  left 
without  a  newly  discovered  relationship  ;  you  remember 
my  telling  you  at  the  Hubbard's  gate  that  I  should 
keep  the  flower  which  you  then  gave  me  and  always 
think  of  the  giver ;  I  confess  I  have  been  thinking  so 
much  that  I  cannot  longer  keep  my  thoughts  to  myself. 
Will  you  permit  me  to  express  them  in  words?" 

Ruth  now  fully  understood  the  doctor's  mind,  but  it 
had  a  very  different  effect  than  the  doctor  anticipated, 
for  she  wanted  to  avoid  that  declaration  of  love  which 
she  feared  was  pending.  The  concentration  of  her 
mind  on  this  point  relieved  her  embarrassment,  and, 
with  perfect  kindness  of  manner  yet  with  firmness,  she 
answered,  "  Dr.  Strong,  since  our  talk  at  the  Hubbard's 
I  have  been  thinking  what  I  would  do  if  the  relationship 
between  Mr.  Mortimer  and  myself  was  established,  I  will 
now  confide  to  you  my  plans.  I  have  come  to  the  firm 
purpose  to  devote  my  whole  future  life  to  the  practice 
of  Christian  Science.  I  feel  that  I  owe  so  much  to  the 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  273 

goodness  of  God,  that  I  should  devote  my  life  to  doing 
good  to  others.  I  have  some  doubts  whether  I  shall 
ever  live  under  the  same  roof  with  my  brother,  at  least 
not  until  he  marries ;  my  remaining  life  will  be  quietly 
spent  with  my  mother  and  devoted  to  the  practice  of 
my  profession." 

The  doctor  looked  rather  puzzled  and  asked,  "  You 
certainly,  Miss  Mortimer,  do  not  intend  to  commit 
yourself  to  celibacy,  —  the  highest  mission  of  woman  is 
to  grace  a  home." 

"  It  may  be  so  with  some,"  answered  Ruth,  "  but 
God  has  given  me  a  special  mission,  and  see,  Dr.  Strong, 
how  he  has  fortified  me  for  it  with  arguments  from 
my  own  history;  our  claim  for  Christian  Science  has 
been  established  by  the  wonderful  recovery  of  my 
mother's  reason,  under  the  treatment  of  that  Christian 
Scientist  from  Boston,  —  by  the  recovery  of  her  memory 
from  that  mental  shock,  —  by  the  identification  of  that 
lost  paper  through  the  somnambulistic  state  —  all  these 
have  certainly  proved  that  the  mind  has  its  own  faculties 
independent  of  the  bodily  senses." 

These  utterances  of  Ruth  were  very  distasteful  to  the 
doctor,  but  concealing  his  chagrin,  he  replied,  "  Miss 
Mortimer,  permit  me  to  suggest  whether  you  are  not 
seeking  an  ideal  which  you  can  never  realize ;  your 
ideal  is  to  guide  the  intellect  to  the  appreciation  of 
truth ;  it  seems  to  me  that  you  are  better  adapted  to 
guide  the  heart  to  the  appreciation  of  love.  You  would 
be  a  priestess  in  a  temple  of  science,  have  you  not  a  far 
higher  mission  —  to  grace  a  home?" 

"Dr.  Strong,"  said  Ruth,  calmly,  "I  see  that  you 


274  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

have  not  understood  me,  I  do  not  dispute  your  view  of 
the  highest  mission  of  womanhood,  but  you  will  agree 
with  me  that  love  must  be  the  essential  to  her  rightly 
fulfilling  that  mission;  now,  I  confess  to  you,  that 
though  I  have  met  some  gentlemen  whom  I  respect,  I 
have  never  yet  seen  one  that  I  loved ;  indeed,  doctor, — 
and  here  I  make  a  confession  at  the  risk  of  lowering 
myself  in  your  opinion,  —  I  have  come  to  the  deliberate 
conclusion  that  there  is  nothing  in  my  own  nature 
which  responds  to  that  sentiment  called  love ;  no,  my 
mission  is  to  teach  the  mind,  not  to  affect  the  heart." 

"  How,  then,"  said  the  doctor,  cynically,  for  Ruth's 
words  chilled  his  own  heart,  "  do  you  anticipate  any 
pleasure  from  this  newly  discovered  relationship  with 
my  friend  Mortimer?" 

Ruth  answered,  "  That  is  something  entirely  different, 
I  can  love  my  mother  and  I  think  I  could  a  brother, 
but  I  have  always  supposed  the  love  in  relationships 
established  by  God  to  be  very  different  from  that 
in  relationships  established  by  ourselves;  and  now," 
said  Ruth,  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  of  turning  the 
conversation,  "  I  can  see  how  God  has  prepared  me  for 
sisterly  affection  toward  Mr.  Mortimer,  for,  ever  since  my 
three  brief  meetings  with  him,  he  has  been  more  or  less 
in  my  thoughts.  Besides,  he  will  come  into  my  life  as 
a  counsellor  and  protector,  so  that  I  will  have  no  need 
of  ever  marrying,  and  thus  can  devote  my  whole  life  to 
my  Christian  Science." 

Dr.  Strong  was  himself  surprised  at  the  sudden 
revulsion  in  his  feelings  towards  Ruth.  "  Christian 
Science  be  hanged,"  he  said  to  himself,  "why,  this 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  275 

girl  is  as  much  under  hallucination  as  was  Simpkins." 
"  Do  I  understand  you,  Miss  Mortimer,"  he  asked,  with 
a  contempt  illy  concealed,  "  that  you  have  come  to  the 
firm  purpose  never  to  marry  because  you  are  so  wedded 
to  your  Christian  Science?" 

"  Yes,  doctor,  God  has  called  me  to  devote  my  life 
to  His  truth,  and  has  indicated  it  by  never  awakening 
in  my  heart  that  love  which  is  essential  to  married 
life." 

The  doctor's  offended  pride  at  Ruth's  tacit  refusal, 
and  at  her  clinging  to  a  theory  against  which  his 
materialism  revolted,  caused  an  entire  change  in  his 
feelings  toward  her  —  the  idol  he  had  worshipped  lay 
shattered  at  his  feet.  "  This  girl,"  he  said  to  himself, 
"is  all  head  and  no  heart,  even  her  head  is  so  turned  by 
her  mind-cureism  that  she  is  merely  a  beautiful  fanatic. 
I  have  let  myself  be  influenced  by  her  originality  and 
her  magnetism,  for  I  grant  she  possesses  both,  but 
I've  barely  escaped  a  life-long  folly,  there  could  be  no 
permanent  unity  of  soul  between  us."  These  thoughts 
passed  with  lightning  rapidity  through  the  doctor's 
mind,  but  feeling  thankful  that  he  had  not  gone  too  far 
to  gracefully  retreat,  he  said,  "  Miss  Mortimer,  you,  of 
course,  are  the  only  judge  in  these  matters,  I  would  not 
hinder  you  from  achieving  your  aspirations ;  I  trust, 
though  we  differ  in  our  beliefs,  we  shall  always  continue 
our  friendship." 

"  Certainly,  doctor,"  said  Ruth,  "  I  hope  you  under 
stand  I  appreciate  the  great  kindness  you  have  already 
shown  me,  and  I  trust  that  my  brother's  friend  may 
always  continue  my  own."  And  so  they  parted. 


276  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

Hardly  had  the  doctor  left  before  Mortimer  entered. 
Mortimer  approached  Ruth  with  the  utmost  frankness, 
held  out  both  his  hands  to  grasp  hers,  which  were  as 
cordially  extended.  He  said,  "  Ruth,  my  sister,  I  thank 
God  for  what  he  has  done  in  proving  our  relationship." 

"  So  do  I,"  said  Ruth,  "  and  I  feej.  especially  grateful 
that  all  this  comes  so  manifestly  through  His  provi 
dence." 

They  sat  for  a  long  time  together  talking  over  the 
history  of  the  past.  Somehow  Ruth  felt  at  once  at  home 
with  her  brother.  After  Mortimer's  experience  with 
Alice,  and  Ruth's  with  Dr.  Strong,  it  was  an  unspeakable 
comfort  to  have  a  relationship  established  where  their 
affections  could  go  out  to  each  other  without  the 
sentimentality  which  characterizes  lovers.  Each  needed 
a  counsellor,  and  the  mind  of  each  seemed  exactly 
fitted  to  supplement  the  other's,  for  Mortimer's  logical 
mind  was  balanced  by  Ruth's  quick  perceptiveness,  and 
his  tendency  to  sedateness  by  Ruth's  vivacity. 

They  had  not  talked  an  hour  before  they  realized 
that  a  missing  link  in  their  lives  had  been  supplied. 
Each,  however,  silently  noticed  the  changes  that  had 
passed  in  the  other  since  they  last  met.  Mortimer  had 
grown  still  handsomer.  His  face  was  a  little  paler,  but 
its  strong  intellectual  cast  so  predominated  that  it  made 
him,  in  Ruth's  eyes,  the  very  impersonation  of  manly 
beauty.  For  the  first  time  she  realized  in  Mortimer 
her  ideal  of  a  man.  To  Mortimer,  Ruth  seemed  equally 
attractive.  The  troubles  through  which  she  had  passed 
had  taken  the  girlish  look  from  her  countenance,  while 
her  beauty  was  thereby  increased  and  the  strong  intellec- 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGE1A.  277 

tuality  of  her  face  was  softened  by  her  very  trials.  She 
still  retained  that  simplicity  of  manner  which  had  so 
charmed  Mortimer  from  the  first.  They  sat  for  an 
hour  and  talked,  every  moment  becoming  better 
acquainted  and  better  understanding  each  other. 

When  he  rose  to  go,  he  said,  "  Sister  Ruth,  it  may  be 
too  soon  to  talk  about  our  future  plans,  but  the  time 
must  soon  or  later  arrive  when  we  will  live  under  the 
same  roof.  I  want  you  to  say  to  your  mother  that  I 
will  be  very  happy  to  provide  a  home  for  you  both,  if 
you  will  let  me  share  it  with  you." 

"  My  dear  brother,"  said  Ruth,  "  do  not  worry  about 
that  now.  God  has  already  done  so  much  for  us  that 
we  can  safely  leave  the  future  with  Him.  Let  us 
direct  our  attention  to  fortifying  the  proofs  of  our 
relationship." 

"  But  am  I  not  to  be  permitted  to  come  and  visit  }~ou 
as  a  sister?"  asked  Mortimer. 

"  Certainly,"  answered  Ruth,  "  and  I  want  to  be  all 
the  comfort  to  you  I  possibly  can." 

Ruth,  on  returning  to  her  mother's  room,  found 
Mrs.  Page  in  rather  a  gloomy  condition.  "  Why, 
mother,"  she  exclaimed,  "  I  expected  to  find  your  face 
radiant  with  smiles  this  morning.  You  have  found  a 
son  and  I  a  brother."  Then  she  eagerly  related  how 
promptly  Mortimer  had  come  to  her  after  the  discovery 
of  the  document  and  what  a  delightful  interview  they 
had  enjoyed. 

"  Well,  Ruth,"  said  her  mother,  "  I  know  it  is  wicked 
in  me,  but  somehow  I  cannot  get  over  my  feelings  of 
dislike  to  a  son  of  Eugene  Mortimer's,  but  I  must 


278  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

confess  he  has  treated  us  both  very  handsomely.  I  will 
try  to  love  him.  I  suppose  my  wicked  heart  feels 
some  jealousy  that  there  is  some  one  now  to  divide  our 
affection." 

"  Not  to  lessen  it,  however,"  answered  Ruth.  "  I 
shall  love  you  just  as  much  as  a  mother,  though  I  love 
Mr.  Mortimer  as  a  brother." 

Ruth  turned  from  her  mother  to  search  for  Esther, 
whom  she  found  in  her  room  in  prayerful  meditation. 
"  Esther,"  said  Ruth,  "  I  do  feel  that  we  are  indebted 
to  your  faith  and  prayer  for  this  precious  discovery,  and 
now,  dear  friend,  since  God  has  made  you  such  a  help 
to  us  in  the  past,  is  it  not  an  indication  of  his  providence 
that  you  should  remain  with  us  through  your  future 
life?  My  brother  has  already  proposed  that  my 
mother  and  I  shall  live  with  him,  but  somehow  I  do 
not  feel  like  doing  this.  I  want  to  keep  a  home  of  my 
own,  and,  Esther,  I  see  that  what  I  will  shortly  need  is 
not  a  maid  but  a  female  companion,  for  I  cannot  shut 
my  eyes  to  the  fact  that  my  mother's  health  is  fast 
failing.  Come  and  live  with  me  and  be  my  lifelong 
friend  and  counsellor.  I  have  abundance  of  means, 
even  if  my  mother  dies,  to  keep  up  a  nice  home,  for  I 
am  her  sole  heir." 

"  Well,  Ruth,"  answered  Esther,  "  I  realize  that  I  am 
growing  old,  and  fear  I  shall  be  a  burden  to  you." 

"  Never,  never,"  said  Ruth.  "  Now  regard  it  as 
settled." 

"  But  I  may  want  to  attend  camp-meetings,"  said 
Esther,  "  and  may  at  times  be  absent  from  you." 

"  Attend  as  many  as   you  please,"  answered    Ruth. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  279 

"  I  will  go  with  you,  and  we  will  put  up  a  sign  on  our 
tent,  '  Esther,  the  Faith-Healer,  and  Ruth,  the  Christian 
Scientist.' " 

"  Oh,  you  naughty  girl ! "  said  Esther.  "  But  I 
cannot  help  loving  you,  in  spite  of  your  naughtiness." 

And  thus  it  was  settled,  Mrs.  Page  herself  being 
pleased  with  the  arrangement,  since  she  realized  her 
failing  health  and  was  glad  to  have  Esther  left  as  a 
protector  to  her  daughter. 


280  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

WHEREIN   SOME  VERY  IMPORTANT  EVENTS    OCCUR. 

As  Mortimer's  visits  to  his  sister  grew  more  frequent 
the  doctor's  decreased.  His  pride  felt  wounded  by 
Ruth's  tacit  refusal,  the  more  so  as  his  theory  that  Ruth 
was  "  all  head  and  no  heart "  was  rather  contradicted 
by  the  wealth  of  sisterly  affection  she  expended  on 
Mortimer.  The  doctor,  however,  still  retained  his 
affection  for  Mortimer  and  had  visited  Alice  Dupont 
and  explained  to  her  the  discovery  of  the  relationship. 
Dr.  Strong  was  surprised  at  the  little  interest  Alice 
manifested.  The  only  remark  she  made  was  "I  am 
glad  they  have  come  together  as  brother  and  sister,  for 
I  was  persuaded  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  them  together 
that  William  Mortimer  was  very  much  taken  with  the 
mind  doctress."  The  doctor,  however,  was  sceptical 
as  to  the  complete  ending  of  Miss  Dupont's  affection 
for  Mortimer.  Indeed,  he  formed  a  plan  of  bringing 
them  again  together,  but  gradually  he  became  convinced 
that  his  project  would  prove  fruitless. 

One  surprising  effect,  however,  was  accomplished  by 
his  frequent  visits  to  Alice,  —  the  doctor  gradually 
began  to  see  excellencies  in  Miss  Dupont  which  he  had 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  28 1 

never  before  discovered.  Alice  began  to  see  excel 
lencies  in  Dr.  Strong  which  she  only  wondered  she  had 
never  before  realized.  Mr.  Parks  grew  still  more 
insipid  and  Dr.  Strong  still  more  interesting.  The 
doctor  was  gaining  reputation  as  a  physician,  and  even 
the  Duponts  p"ere  and  mere  did  not  regard  him  with  an 
unfriendly  eye,  the  more  so  because  they  realized  there 
was  no  prospect  of  a  match  between  their  daughter  and 
Mr.  Parks.  The  only  antagonism  remaining  in  Alice's 
heart  to  Dr.  Strong  was  to  his  materialistic  scepticism. 
This,  however,  led  her  to  devote  more  attention  to  the 
doctor's  conversion,  which  the  doctor  rewarded  by 
more  attention  to  Miss  Dupont.  Finally  they  became 
so  interested  in  these  mutual  benevolent  intentions,  that 
it  became  evident  to  Alice's  parents  that  the  prospects 
of  the  doctor's  converting  their  daughter  to  his  views 
of  matrimony  would  be  carried  out,  before  Alice's 
conversion  of  the  doctor  to  her  views  of  religion. 

Spring  had  now  arrived,  and,  in  the  meanwhile,  the 
other  witness  to  the  paper  had  been  found  and  his 
signature  attested.  When  Mortimer  came  to  announce 
this  fact  to  Ruth,  he  said,  "  Now,  sister  Ruth,  since  the 
evidences  of  our  relationship  are  clearly  established, 
why  need  we  live  longer  apart?  Let  me  carry  out  my 
cherished  plan  of  having  a  home  where  you,  your 
mother,  Esther  and  myself  can  live  together.  Besides, 
I  think  it  is  due  to  all  concerned  that  our  relationship 
should  now  be  publicly  announced." 

"  Brother,"  cried  Ruth,  "  I  acknowledge  that  all  this 
seems  reasonable,  but  you  know  my  Christian  Science 
makes  an  important  distinction  between  what  seems  and 
what  is" 


282  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

"  But,  my  dear  sister,  you  certainly  do  not  now 
doubt  our  relationship." 

"  God  forbid  !  "  said  Ruth,  and  the  tears  started  in 
her  eyes.  "  I  believe  it  would  kill  me  if  it  should  ever 
prove  to  be  a  mistake." 

Mortimer  himself  started  and  exclaimed,  "  I  believe 
it  would  kill  me,  too,"  but  then,  recovering  himself,  he 
said,  "  Ruth,  we  both  are  acting  foolishly ;  it  is  estab 
lished.  Now  let  us  plan  about  our  future." 

"  But,  brother,"  said  Ruth,  "  do  try  to  find  some  one 
whom  you  can  marry,  and  then  you  can  have  both  a 
sister  and  wife  to  care  for  you." 

"  Why,  Ruth,"  answered  Mortimer,  "  how  can  I 
marry  when  I  do  not  love?  " 

"  But,"  said  Ruth,  "  you  once  loved  Alice  Dupont." 

"  Yes,"  said  Mortimer,  "  but  somehow  I  do  not  any 
longer.  I  respect  Miss  Dupont  and  acknowledge  that 
I  misjudged  her  character,  but,  while  I  feel  penitent  for 
my  part  in  that  love  scrape,  my  penitence  does  not 
revive  any  affection  for  that  lady,  and  I  will  now  tell 
you  a  secret.  I  find  Dr.  Strong  is  visiting  Miss  Dupont 
quite  frequently.  Indeed,  he  sounded  me  last  night  to 
see  whether  I  could  brook  his  being  a  rival  in  my 
supposed  affection  for  Miss  Alice.  Dear  Strong !  I 
soon  convinced  him  that  I  only  wished  him  success." 

Ruth  laughed  and  said,  "  Well,  I  confess  there  is  one 
thing  which  is  beyond  the  ken  of  even  Christian 
Science,  and  that  is  whom  people  will  marry.  Love  is 
certainly  something  which  defies  prophecy.  But  is 
there  not  some  one  else,  brother,  whom  you  might 
love?" 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  283 

"  No,"  answered  Mortimer.  "  I  have  thought  over 
all  my  lady  acquaintances  and  see  no  one  who  fills  my 
ideal  of  a  woman,  unless,"  he  added,  playfully,  "  I  can 
find  some  one  like  you,  dear  sister." 

"Well,"  said  Ruth,  "I  must  then  cultivate  more 
acquaintance  among  female  Christian  Scientists  and  try 
to  find  a  helpmeet  for  you.  But  now,  brother,"  she 
continued,  "  there  is  another  matter  which  you  must 
bear  with  your  sister  when  she  speaks  plainly  about." 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Mortimer.  "I  know  you  used 
to  give  lectures,  but  as  yet  you  have  not  tried  one  on 
me.  Proceed,  Miss  Lecturer." 

"  I  don't  want  to  lecture  you,"  said  Ruth,  "  for  my 
sisterly  affection  is  too  great  to  attempt  that  task,  but  I 
do  urge  you  to  take  more  care  of  your  health.  You 
are  taxing  it  severely  by  your  large  law  practice." 

"You  are  right,"  said  Mortimer.  "I  have  to-day 
had  a  warning  in  an  attack  of  vertigo.  What  would 
you  advise  me  to  do  ?  " 

"  Go  out  into  society,"  said  Ruth.  "  You  need  some 
diversion,  and,"  she  added  with  a  smile,  "  perhaps  you 
will  thus  find  not  only  health  but  a  wife." 

"  I  think  I'll  take  your  advice,"  said  Mortimer,  "  and 
go  in  a  few  evenings  to  a  party  at  the  Descheills'." 

The  next  day  Mortimer  was  very  busy  in  court.  He 
sat  up  late  that  night,  rose  early  the  next  morning,  was 
kept  busy  all  that  day  in  his  office,  then  ate  a  hasty 
dinner,  then  went  to  his  bachelor  lodgings  and  began 
dressing  for  the  party.  But  he  was  again  interrupted 
by  a  client,  who  came  to  see  him  about  a  case  he  was 
to  plead  on  the  morrow.  At  a  late  hour,  jaded  and 


284  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

worn  out,  Mortimer  dashed  away  in  his  carriage  to  the 
Descheills'  party.  He  himself  noticed  a  little  unsteadi 
ness  in  his  gait,  and  that  his  head  swum  a  little,  but  he 
managed  to  enter  the  parlor  and  salute  his  hostess. 
After  spending  a  half-hour  in  that  light  chatting  with 
the  fair  sex  which  requires  no  exertion  of  brain, 
Mortimer,  feeling  oppressed  by  the  heat  of  the  room, 
was  thinking  of  returning  home,  when,  while  passing  a 
group  of  persons,  he  noticed  in  it  Miss  Alice  Dupont. 
She  acknowledged  his  slight  bow  of  recognition.  Her 
companion,  who  happened  to  be  a  society  fop,  Tennis 
Doyle  by  name,  called  out,  "  Mr.  Mortimer,  you're  just 
the  gentleman  we  need  advice  from  at  the  present 
time." 

"Why  so?"  inquired  Mortimer 

"  We  were  discussing,"  said  Doyle,  with  an  affected 
drawl,  "  whether  the  man  who  shot  Miss  Dupont's  cat 
ought  to  be -hung  or  not.  Now,  part  of  the  jury  are 
haters  of  cats  and  say  that  a  man  who  shoots  one  should 
be  regarded  as  a  public  benefactor.  You,  we  suppose, 
are  impartial  on  the  subject  of  cats,  and,  as  you  are 
certainly  competent  legal  authority,  we  desire  your 
opinion  on  the  case." 

Mortimer  banteringly  replied,  "  Mr.  Doyle,  I  believe 
you  are  the  descendant  of  an  Irish  lord.  You  must, 
then,  be  acquainted  with  the  famous  verdict  of  the  Irish 
jury,  '  Not  guilty,  but  don't  do  it  again.'  " 

A  general  laugh  ensued,  joined  in  by  all  but  Alice. 

"Why  don't  you  also  laugh,  Miss  Dupont?"  said 
Doyle.  "  You  seem  to  be  taking  this  matter  very 
seriously." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  285 

"  I  don't  see  anything  to  laugh  at,"  said  Alice.  "  If 
a  man  is  guilty  I  think  he  ought  to  be  punished,  so  that 
he  will  not  have  the  opportunity  of  doing  it  again" 
giving  a  significant  look  at  Mortimer. 

"  Then  you  would  leave  no  place  for  repentance, 
Miss  Dupont?"  said  Mortimer,  with  a  significant  look 
at  Alice. 

Alice  made  no  answer,  but,  turning  to  Mr.  Doyle, 
said,  "Will  you  give  me  a  little  rest  from  this  legal 
knowledge  and  offer  me  your  arm,  as  I  would  like  to 
see  what  has  become  of  my  mother." 

A  sudden  freak  seized  Mortimer  to  have  it  out  with 
Alice.  That  determination  which  comes  from  a  frenzied 
brain,  which,  in  its  excitement,  knows  no  barriers  and 
respects  no  decorum,  seized  Mortimer,  and  he  said  to 
himself,  "  I  will  have  an  answer  from  that  girl  to  my 
question  before  she  leaves  this  room."  He  turned  and 
followed  Alice  and  Doyle.  Soon  they  stopped  and 
Alice,  as  if  weary,  seated  herself.  She  saw  Mortimer 
approaching,  and  the  wildness  in  his  eye  made  her  fear 
some  catastrophe,  but  there  was  no  way  of  escape. 
Mortimer  came  up,  and,  perfectly  regardless  of  the 
many  eyes  that  were  resting  upon  them  both,  planted 
himself  in  front  of  Alice  and  said,  "  Miss  Dupont,  I 
must  have  an  answer  to  my  question.  Is  there  no 
place  for  repentance?" 

Alice,  rising  up  with  dignity  and  looking  Mortimer 
steadily  in  the  face,  said,  "When  a  man  wrongs  a 
woman  in  private  and  then  insults  her  in  public,  if  that 
woman  feels  as  I  do  now,  there  would  never  be  any 
place  for  repentance  for  that  man." 


286  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

Mortimer  turned  on  his  heel  and  walked  off  as  one 
dazed.  He  started  for  the  door,  even  forgetting  to  bid 
his  hostess  good-night.  He  was  actually  going  out  of 
the  door  without  hat  or  coat,  when  the  servant  stepped 
up  and  said,  "  Mr.  Mortimer,  are  you  looking  for  your 
carriage?  Let  me  call  it  while  you  are  getting  your 
wraps."  Mortimer  had  once  helped  this  man  out  of  a 
legal  scrape.  He,  seeing  that  something  was  the 
matter  with  Mortimer,  carefully  assisted  him  into  his 
carriage  and  whispered  to  the  coachman,  "  Thomas,  I 
am  afraid  your  master  has  been  taking  something  too 
strong  to-night.  See  that  he  gets  into  his  bed  safely." 

The  coachman,  who  was  a  pious  Scotchman,  was 
shocked.  "  Ah,"  he  said,  "  this  shows  what  these 
parties  will  bring  a  man  to.  My  minister  denounces 
theatres  and  operas,  but  I  believe  more  men  and 
women  are  ruined  by  these  late  suppers  than  by  a 
hundred  theatres." 

It  was  with  great  care  that  Thomas  helped  his 
master  out  of  the  carriage  and  put  him  into  the  hall 
with  his  hands  on  the  banisters,  but  as  Mortimer  tried 
to  ascend  the  staircase  he  fell  headlong.  Thomas  lifted 
up  his  master,  and,  as  he  carried  him  to  his  room, 
noticed  that  Mortimer's  breath  did  not  smell  of  drink 
and  that  his  arms  seemed  paralyzed.  He  ran  for  a 
physician,  who,  on  seeing  Mortimer,  said,  "This  may 
prove  a  very  serious  case.  I  desire  to  have  his  regular 
physician  called ;  he  knows  better  than  I  the  former 
state  of  the  patient." 

Thomas  immediately  ran  for  Dr.  Strong.  He  had 
just  returned  from  escorting  Alice  home,  who  had  told 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  287 

him  of  Mortimer's  behavior.  "  He  was  drunk,"  said 
Alice.  "  I  never  thought  that  William  Mortimer  would 
be  found  in  such  a  condition."  Dr.  Strong  was  much 
angered  by  hearing  of  Mortimer's  conduct  to  Miss 
Dupont.  Nevertheless,  when  Thomas  came  after  him, 
he  responded  to  the  call. 

As  soon  as  he  saw  Mortimer's  condition  his  anger 
departed.  He  gave  Dr.  Buccom,  the  other  physician, 
a  rapid  sketch  of  the  pressure  that  Mortimer's  brain 
had  undergone  through  overwork. 

"Just  what  I  supposed,"  said  Dr.  Buccom.  "  Here 
is  a  plain  case  of  neurasthenia,  conjoined  with  cerebras- 
thenia,  with  some  tendency  to  myelasthenia." 

These  terrible  names  seemed  to  Thomas,  who  was 
standing  by,  the  death  warrant  of  his  beloved  master, 
and,  knowing  that  an  intimate  friendship  existed  between 
Ruth  and  Mortimer,  and  thinking  she  ought  to  be 
informed  of  his  approaching  death,  he  hastened  early 
in  the  morning  to  Mrs.  Page's.  "  Oh,  Miss  Page,"  he 
exclaimed,  with  the  tears  running  down  his  face,  "  my 
dear  master  is  going  to  die." 

"You  surely  do  not  mean  my  brother,"  exclaimed 
Ruth,  forgetting  in  her  excitement  the  secret  of  their 
relationship. 

"  No,"  said  Thomas,  "  not  your  brother,  but  my 
master,  Mr.  Mortimer." 

"Oh,  tell  me,  Thomas,"  exclaimed  Ruth,  "what  z> 
the  matter  and  how  it  happened." 

Thomas  rapidly  detailed  how  Mortimer  had  tottled 
to  his  carriage  after  the  party  and  his  subsequent  attack. 

"  Who  is  there  with  him?  "  asked  Ruth. 

"  Dr.  Buccom  and  Dr.  Strong." 


288  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"  Go,  then,  Thomas,  and  ask  Dr.  Strong  to  come  and 
see  me.  But  wait,  —  tell  me  why  you  think  your 
master  is  going  to  die." 

"  Oh,  Miss  Page,  if  you'd  only  heard  the  awful  names 
Dr.  Buccom  gave  to  my  master's  disease !  He  must 
be  at  death's  door." 

An  hour  of  the  most  intense  anxiety  passed.  Fortun 
ately  Esther  was  near  to  soothe  Ruth,  who  was  in  a 
paroxysm  of  anguish.  "  Let  us  not  despair,  dear 
Ruth,"  said  Esther,  "  until  we  see  Dr.  Strong,  it  may 
not  be  so  bad  as  Thomas  imagines." 

When  Dr.  Strong  came  Ruth  rushed  up  to  him  saying, 
"  Oh,  doctor,  tell  me,  is  my  brother  living !  Oh,  let 
me  go  to  him,  I  will  die  if  he  dies !  "  and  the  poor  girl 
wrung  her  hands. 

"  Why,  Miss  Mortimer,"  said  the  doctor,  soothingly, 
"  you're  mistaken  about  your  brother,  his  condition  is 
dangerous  but  not  necessarily  fatal ;  indeed,  he  already 
seems  better,  though  his  paralysis,  which  I  believe  to 
be  more  the  result  of  nervous  exhaustion  than  organic 
lesion,  still  continues." 

"  Doctor,  are  you  telling  me  the  truth  ?  Thomas  has 
just  been  here,  he  overheard  the  diagnosis  of  Dr. 
Buccom,  and  he  says  Dr.  Buccom  declared  my  brother 
had  a  complication  of  awful  diseases." 

Despite  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  Dr.  Strong 
could  not  help  smiling.  "  Why,  Miss  Mortimer,"  he 
replied,  "  all  that  Dr.  Buccom  meant  by  those  medical 
terms  was  that  your  brother  is  suffering  from  nervous 
exhaustion,  accompanied  with  exhaustion  of  the  brain 
and  tending  to  exhaustion  of  the  spinal  cord." 


OR,    THE   NEW    HYGEIA.  289 

Ruth  felt  immensely  relieved,  but  Esther,  who  never 
neglected  an  opportunity  to  hit  the  doctors,  said,  "  You 
have,  anyway,  nearly  killed  Ruth  with  your  big  medical 
terms.  I  don't  see  why  you  doctors  complain  that  you 
can't  understand  that  simple  word,  —  faith,  when  you 
expect  people  to  understand  such  big  Greek  and  Latin 
words." 

But  Ruth  interposed,  as  she  always  did  when  Esther 
and  the  doctor  began  their  wordy  battles.  "  Doctor," 
she  said,  "  you  can  see  the  trying  position  I  am  placed  in, 
I  want  to  go  this  very  moment  to  my  brother,  but 
would  it  be  proper?" 

"Not  at  all,"  answered  the  doctor,  "the  flat  he 
occupies  is  filled  with  gentlemen,  and  a  young  lady 
would  there  be  sadly  out  of  place." 

"  What  shall  I,  can  I  do  !  "  exclaimed  Ruth,  "  to 
think  of  his  lying  sick  and  I  having  no  opportunity  to 
help  him !  " 

The  doctor  pondered  and  said,  "  Miss  Mortimer,  I 
think  it  would  not  be  out  of  place  for  Mrs.  Bates  to 
visit  him ;  indeed,  she  might  remain  with  him  through 
the  day,  I  will  see  that  he  has  a  male  nurse  at  night." 

"  But,  Dr.  Strong,  how  I  wish  I  could  try  my 
Christian  healing  on  my  brother,  it  is  just  the  case  my 
science  can  benefit."  This  was  too  much  for  the 
doctor,  he  turned  and  abruptly  left. 

A  week  of  intense  anxiety  passed.  Under  the 
influence  of  narcotics  sleep  was  induced,  yet  it  had  not 
the  restfulness  of  natural  slumber.  His  organs  of 
speech  and  arms  were  still  partially  paralyzed,  though 
the  left  arm  had  more  ability  to  move  than  the  right. 


290  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

"  It  is,"  said  Dr.  Buccom,  "  what  Dr.  Hammond*  terms 
anapeiratic  paralysis,  where  the  organs  most  used  are 
the  ones  affected,  such  as  writer's  or  telegrapher's 
paralysis.  Now,  our  patient  has  been  lately  using  his 
organs  of  speech  in  pleading,  and  his  arms  in  writing, 
or  gesturing,  hence  these  reflect  the  nervous  exhaustion 
of  the  brain." 

But  much  to  the  puzzle  of  both  the  wise  doctors, 
though  Mortimer  came  in  his  recovery  up  to  a  certain 
point,  they  could  not  get  him  beyond  it.  Both  brain 
and  body  seemed  to  be  in  a  state  of  inertia,  yet  by 
smiles  and  frowns  which  passed  over  his  face,  and  by 
nods  in  answer  to  questions,  the  physicians  saw  their 
patient's  mind  was  still  active.  While  reflecting  on  the 
case,  Dr.  Strong  recalled  the  recuperative  effect  of  the 
shock  given  to  Mrs.  Page  by  the  sight  of  himself.  "  I 
wonder,"  he  said,  "  if,  after  all,  the  meeting  of  Ruth 
with  her  brother  might  not  have  a  decidedly  beneficial 
effect." 

The  opportunity  came  for  him  to  suggest  this  plan 
to  Dr.  Buccom,  for  Dr.  Buccom  chanced  to  remark,  "  I 
believe  we  have  not  discovered  the  originating  cause 
of  this  attack,  let  me  ask  you  frankly,  Dr.  Strong,  was 
our  patient  ever  in  love?  " 

"  Yes,"  answered  Dr.  Strong. 

"  Did  this  attack  come  on  in  the  presence  of  the 
person  he  loved?"  Dr.  Buccom  further  inquired. 

"  No,  not  exactly,  he  met  a  lady  whom  he  had 
formerly  loved,  but  between  whom  and  himself  all  such 
sentiment  has  passed,  at  least  so  Mortimer  affirms." 

*  Diseases  of  the  Nervous  System,  W.  H.  Hammond,  M.  D.,  page  786. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  29! 

"  That  may  all  be  so,"  said  Dr.  Buccom,  "  yet  in  his 
stage  of  cerebral  excitement  the  mere  sight  of  her 
might  have  been  a  spark  to  ignite  the  combustible 
matter  in  his  brain.  Here,"  he  continued,  "  is  really 
the  secret  of  a  large  class  of  cases  which  are  considered 
new  attacks.  I  was  called  the  other  day  to  a  man  who 
had  become  crazy  by  having  suddenly  communicated 
to  him  by  his  daughter,  her  secret  marriage  with  a  man 
he  disliked.  Every  one  blamed  the  girl  for  so  startling 
her  father,  and  called  her  a  murderess.  Now,  the  fact 
is  that  if  something  else  had  happened  to  startle  him  — 
a  vivid  lightning  flash,  an  earthquake  —  he  would  as 
easily  have  become  deranged ;  the  combustible  was 
there  only  waiting  for  the  igniting  spark. 

"  I  could  mention  a  dozen  business  men  whom  I 
meet  walking  around  the  streets  of  New  York,  they  are 
under  the  pressure  of  great  mental  strain;  some  event 
may  drop  a  spark  into  the  combustible  material,  it  may 
be  a  financial  loss,  or  a  sudden  shock;  they  may  jump 
off  a  ferry-boat,  or  cut  their  throats,  or  blow  out  their 
brains.  People  will  blame  the  agent  which  drops  the 
match,  while  the  true  cause  has  been  the  inordinate 
previous  brain  pressure.  Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem, 
most  men  commit  suicide  long  before  they  die.  If  our 
medical  science  is  to  be  effective  it  must  go  hand  in 
hand  with  moral  science.  We  direct  our  efforts  often 
entirely  to  man's  physical  condition,  when  we  ought 
rather  to  be  aiming  at  his  moral  regeneration;  we 
prescribe  opium  and  chloral  to  make  him  sleep,  when 
we  ought  to  be  enforcing  temperance  in  his  brain  work. 
I  could  cite  to-day  a  hundred  intemperate  people  in 


292  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

brain  work  to  one  intemperate  in  drink.  This  William 
Mortimer,  as  I  learn  from  his  servant  Thomas,  professes 
to  be  a  total  abstainer,  but  I  tell  you  he  is  one  of  the 
most  intemperate  men  that  walk  the  streets  of  New 
York,  even  though  he  never  permits  a  drop  of  liquor  to 
pass  his  lips." 

"You  are  perfectly  right,"  responded  Dr.  Strong, 
"  and  now  we  are  talking  about  moral  and  mental 
influences,  I  would  like  to  suggest  what  has  been 
suggested  to  me  by  knowing  something  of  Mortimer's 
past  history.  He  has  a  sister  to  whom  he  is  intensely 
attached  and  she  to  him.  It  was  only  lately  through  a 
peculiar  chain  of  circumstances  that  their  relationship 
was  discovered.  Indeed,  it  was  this  discovery,  and  the 
resulting  excitement  of  his  emotional  faculties,  which  I 
believe  greatly  aided  in  the  strain  on  his  mind  which 
culminated  in  this  attack.  How  wrould  it  do,  Dr. 
Buccom,  to  try  the  effect  of  her  presence  on  him?  " 

"Just  the  thing,"  answered  Dr.  Buccom,  "I  was 
reading  only  yesterday  Prof.  Carpenter's  explanation 
of  the  curious  fact  that  the  muscles  of  the  body  may 
be  paralyzed  beyond  the  power  of  the  will,  yet  not 
beyond  the  power  of  the  emotions.*  Now,"  added  the 
doctor,  "if  we  could  bring  some  power  to  act  both  on 
the  volitional  and  the  emotional  parts  of  this  man's 
nature,  it  might  have  the  most  happy  result;  suppose 
you  do  procure  the  presence  of  his  sister." 

"But,  Dr.  Buccom,  I  must  in  candor  tell  you,  this 
sister  of  his  is  a  mind-curer." 

"  Horrors  !  "  exclaimed  Dr.  Buccom. 

*  Carpenter's  Mental  Physiology,  page  331.     (Sec.  363.)     American  edition. 


OR,    THE   NEW    HYGEIA.  293 

"  Yes,"  said  Dr.  Strong,  "  and  what  is  worse,  if  her 
presence  should  prove  beneficial,  she  would  ascribe  it 
to  her  '  Christian  Science,'  as  she  terms  it." 

"  Horror  of  horrors  !  "  reiterated  Dr.  Buccom,  "yet," 
he  added,  "  I  am  not  willing  to  grant  that  our  medical 
science  is  afraid  of  such  a  senseless  vagary  as  the 
mind-cure ;  Dr.  Strong,  I  am  willing  to  try  this 
experiment  of  his  sister's  presence  if  you  are."  Dr. 
Strong  immediately  waited  on  Ruth  and  proposed  that 
she  should  visit  her  brother. 

Ruth  was  surprised  at  the  proposition,  especially 
after  the  doctor's  previous  demonstration  of  the  im 
propriety  of  her  presence  in  Mortimer's  bedroom. 
"What  has  so  changed  your  mind?"  asked  Ruth. 

The  doctor  had  to  explain,  with  many  haws  and 
hems,  that  they  hoped  the  sight  of  his  sister  would  so 
awake  Mortimer's  emotional  faculties  that  it  would  aid 
his  volitional  powers.  Ruth  said  nothing,  but  turning 
to  conceal  the  smile  on  her  countenance,  hurried  from 
the  room  and  soon  reappeared  ready  to  go  to  her 
brother.  As  she  stepped  from  the  elevator  in  the  flat, 
Dr.  Strong  said,  "  Please  wait  here  a  moment  till  I  see 
whether  your  brother  is  in  a  proper  state  to  see  you ;  " 
he  soon  reappeared  with  Dr.  Buccom,  whom  he 
introduced  to  Ruth ;  the  latter  cautioned  Ruth  to  enter 
the  room  quietly,  and  to  be  ready  to  leave  when  he 
motioned  to  her  to  do  so. 

As  Ruth  entered  the  room,  Mortimer  was  lying 
apparently  motionless,  with  his  eyes  turned  upward  as 
if  he  was  lost  in  thought.  He  did  not  notice  Ruth's 
entrance,  and  this  gave  her  the  opportunity  to  consider 


294  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

his  appearance.  Oh,  how  her  heart  sank  as  she  saw 
the  pallor  of  his  face  and  the  evident  weakness  of  his 
body.  But  the  comforting  thought  came  to  her  —  God 
has  in  His  providence  brought  me  here,  He  will  use  me 
for  my  brother's  healing.  Dr.  Buccom  motioned  to 
Ruth  not  to  say  a  word ;  he  handed  her  a  chair,  but  in 
so  doing  made  a  noise,  which  attracted  Mortimer's 
attention  and  caused  him  to  turn  his  eyes  towards  the 
door.  When  he  saw  Ruth,  his  face  flushed,  every 
lineament  quivered  with  excitement.  Lo !  his  mouth 
opens,  with  a  voice  trembling  with  excitement  he 
exclaims,  "  O,  Ruth,  Ruth,  have  you  come  at  last, 
how  I  have  been  longing  for  you  !  "  The  poor  girl 
was  overcome  with  excitement  and  before  Mortimer's 
physicians  could  hinder  her  she  sprang  forward  to  him 
—  the  paralyzed  arms  stretched  themselves  out  and 
Mortimer  clasped  Ruth  to  his  heart* 

Dr.  Buccom  stepped  forward  to  take  her  away, 
saying,  "  This  meeting  has  so  far  had  a  beneficial  effect, 
but  it  must  not  be  prolonged." 

"No,  no,  doctor,"  said  Mortimer,  "you  mistake,  do 
leave  my  sister  by  my  side,  I  feel  calmer  and  better  for 
her  very  presence."  So  Ruth  took  her  seat  by  her 
brother's  bedside,  and  for  a  long  time  he  lay  gazing  at 
her  as  if  the  very  sight  was  a  feast  to  his  soul ; 
gradually  the  eyelids  began  to  droop  and  he  sank  into 
a  gentle  slumber.  When  he  awoke,  Mortimer  was  a 
new  man  mentally  and  physically;  it  took  weeks, 
however,  for  him  to  regain  his  strength.  The  visits  of 

*  For  cases  of  paralysis  removed  by  experiencing  strong  emotion,  see  Tuke, 
Chap.  XVI,  Sec.  ii. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  295 

Ruth  proved   so  beneficial  that  she  came  every  day 
with  Esther  and  spent  an  hour  with  her  brother. 

It  was  not  till  Mortimer  was  quite  recovered  that 
Ruth  told  him  of  the  scene  at  the  Deschiell's  party. 
"  I  tell  you  this,"  said  Ruth,  "  because  I  think  it  ought 
to  be  known  for  the  credit  of  Dr.  Strong,  who  I  learn 
is  engaged  to  Miss  Dupont,  and  who,  notwithstanding, 
seems  to  have  no  feelings  of  revenge  for  your  treatment 
of  her." 

The  doctor  came  in  just  then  and  Mortimer  said, 
"  Strong,  Ruth  has  just  told  me  of  what  occurred  at 
the  Deschiell's  party,  I  beg  you  to  make  my  most 
sincere  apologies  to  Miss  Dupont,  and  assure  her  that 
I  did  not  know  what  I  was  doing,  I  was  entirely  out  of 
my  mind." 

"  Both  Miss  Dupont  and  myself  understand  it  all  and 
we  have  forgiven  you ;  "  and  he  added  laughingly, 
"  I  suppose  Esther  Bates  would  call  it  *  a  special 
providence/  for  while  explaining  your  conduct  to  Miss 
Dupont,  I  found  the  opportunity  to  explain  to  her  the 
state  of  my  own  bewildered  brain  and  heart,  and  now 
Miss  Dupont  has  calmed  me  as  (looking  at  Ruth)  your 
sister's  presence  has  calmed  you,  and  I  expect  to  invite 
you  both  to  our  wedding  next  fall." 

Mortimer  and  Ruth  heaped  sincere  congratulations 
on  the  doctor.  "  But,  Mortimer,"  said  Dr.  Strong,  "  I 
want  you  now  to  prove  that  you  have  renounced  all 
affection  for  my  fiancee  by  surrendering  that  picture 
which  you  once  showed  me." 

"  Certainly,"  said  Mortimer,  "  I  forgot  I  had  it,"  and 
as  he  took  Alice's  photograph  out  of  the  drawer, 


296  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

Mortimer  was  surprised  to  think  that  the  sight  of  that 
face  had  ever  affected  him. 

"  Now,  doctor,"  said  Mortimer,  "  since  you  have  the 
prospect  of  a  home,  I  want  you  to  aid  me  in  inducing 
this  sister  of  mine  to  give  me  a  home.  I  must  get  out 
of  these  bachelor  quarters,  I  may  have  another  attack 
and  the  last  one  has  proved  that  I  need  the  presence 
of  my  sister.  Dear  Ruth,"  he  added,  looking  at  her 
affectionately,  "  I  owe  my  life  to  you  and  we  must  never 
be  separated  again,  at  least  if  you  want  my  life  to 
continue." 

"  Brother,"  said  Ruth,  "  let  us  not  talk  of  that  now, 
for  whatever  may  be  in  the  future,  the  great  necessity 
for  the  present  is  your  taking  a  trip  to  Europe,  and 
perhaps  you  may  there  find  a  bride,  then,  if  she  agrees 
to  it,  your  sister  will  come  and  with  you  spend  the  rest 
of  her  days. 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  297 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

A   HORRIBLE    REVELATION. 

Moral  insanity  is  the  despair  of  medical  science. 
Look  at  the  testimony  of  the  medical  experts  in 
the  Guiteau  trial,  when  wise  men  not  only  from  the 
East,  but  also  from  the  North,  West  and  South, 
gathered  in  Washington  City  to  decide  whether  the 
assassin  was  sane.  Any  unbiased  mind,  viewing  the 
mass  of  contradictory  opinions  on  Guiteau's  mental  and 
moral  condition,  must  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
medical  science  has  not  yet  determined  how  far  moral 
states  are  responsible  for  physical  derangement. 
Neither  has  it  learned  to  draw  the  dividing  line 
between  depravity  and  insanity.  Dr.  Hammond,  in 
his  voluminous  "  Treatise  on  Nervous  Diseases,"  (page 
336)  says  "what  Dr.  Prichard  formerly  described  as 
moral  insanity  can  now  be  classed  under  imbecility." 
Since  the  medical  profession  cannot  arrive  at  some 
definite  agreement  on  this  point,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at 
that  people  outside  of  it,  are  impatient  at  a  delay  which 
makes  orderly  citizens  timorous  about  being  assassi 
nated  by  some  insane  crank,  so-called.  Or  is  it  to  be 
wondered  at  that  the  public  outside  of  said  medical 


298  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

profession  has  become  impatient  of  the  new-fangled 
vocabulary, —  "kleptomania,  dypsomania  and  homicidal 
dementia" — and  is  returning  to  the  old  terms, —  stealing, 
drunkenness  and  murder? 

Besides,  that  somewhat  old-fashioned  book  (in  some 
people's  opinion),  the  Bible,  is  still  held  in  reverence 
by  many,  which  book  has  a  very  summary  way  of 
dealing  with  much  that  now  passes  for  insanity,  by 
ascribing  it  to  total  depravity  and  to  the  devil.  "  Out 
of  the  heart,"  said  the  Great  Teacher,  "  proceed 
murders,  thefts,  etc."  Judas,  who  would  now  stand  a 
chance  of  being  classed  by  medical  experts  as  insane 
(indeed,  as  presenting  an  illustrious  example  of  mania 
combined  with  melancholia,  the  mania  impelling  him  to 
his  betrayal,  the  melancholia  to  his  suicide),  this  Judas 
has  his  case  thus  summarily  disposed  of  by  the  Bible, — 
"  The  devil  entered  into  him."  There  is,  however,  we 
allow,  one  difficulty  in  applying  this  theory  about  Judas 
to  the  present  generation;  namely,  that  if  all  the 
people  in  these  United  States  whom  the  devil  enters 
into  were  adjudged  to  be  insane,  the  country  might  be 
bankrupted  in  building  Insane  Hospitals.  But  to  the 
case  in  hand.  If,  after  reading  it,  the  physician  prefers 
classifying  it  under  monomania,  let  him  not  quarrel 
with  those  who  may  apply  to  it  the  verdict  of  the  Bible 
on  Judas. 

After  Mortimer's  departure  for  Europe,  Ruth  devoted 
herself  entirely  to  her  mother,  whose  rapidly  failing 
strength  betokened  her  approaching  death.  The  only 
apparent  thought  Ruth  gave  to  Mortimer  was  to  write 
him  a  long  weekly  letter,  irj,  which  she  kept  him  posted 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  299 

on  all  events  about  which  he  would  be  interested.  The 
only  by-play  in  her  letters  was  the  reminder  that  he  had 
two  duties  to  perform,  —  first,  to  regain  his  health ; 
second,  to  bring  back  with  him  a  wife.  Mortimer  felt  at 
first  disappointed  at  the  want  of  affection  in  Ruth's 
letters,  yet,  as  he  read  carefully  between  the  lines,  he 
could  perceive  a  deep  undertone  of  love  murmuring 
through  them  all. 

His  letters,  and  they  were  more  frequent  than  Ruth's, 
dwelt  mostly  on  his  travels,  yet  incidentally  mentioned 
how  constantly  his  sister  was  in  his  thoughts.  They 
also  contained  some  by-play  in  the  descriptions  of 
ladies  he  met  and  his  efforts  to  fall  in  love  with  them, 
so  far  unsuccessfully. 

After  Mortimer  had  been  absent  four  months,  all  of 
a  sudden  Ruth's  letters  stopped.  He  waited  a  week, 
and  became  so  anxious  that  he  was  about  to  engage 
passage  home,  when  the  following  despatch  reached 
him: 

WILLIAM  MORTIMER, 

Care  of  American  Exchange  in  Paris :  — 
Something  terrible  has  happened.     Come  right  home. 

(Signed)    DR.  STRONG. 

We  will  leave  Mortimer  for  the  moment  while  we 
investigate  the  cause  of  Dr.  Strong's  despatch.  As 
stated  before,  Mrs.  Page  rapidly  sank,  and  a  few  months 
after  Mortimer's  departure,  passed  from  earth.  Ruth 
and  Esther  tenderly  nursed  her  to  the  close  of  her 
mortal  life,  which  was  clouded  by  a  deep  gloom. 
Singularly,  Ruth's  presence  seemed  to  annoy  her,  for 
when  she  entered  the  room  her  mother  averted  her  face. 


30O  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

It  was  hard  for  Ruth  to  watch  anxiously  at  the  death 
bed  of  a  parent,  where  no  tenderness  of  love  was  to 
characterize  their  parting,  yet  her  noble  spirit  rose  to 
the  emergency.  She  did  not  worry  her  mother  with 
her  presence,  but  like  a  guardian  angel  saw  that  every 
thing  was  done  to  ease  her  closing  days.  Esther, 
taking  in  the  situation,  served  Ruth  by  constantly 
serving  her  mother. 

At  last  the  end  came.  Poor  Ruth  was  overwhelmed 
with  a  sense  of  loneliness.  "  Esther,"  she  said,  "  you 
are  the  only  one  left  in  the  world  to  me ;  oh,  promise 
me  now  that  you  will  never  leave  me." 

"  Certainly,  my  dear  child,"  said  Esther,  as  she  folded 
Ruth  in  her  motherly  arms,  "  but  you  forget  that  you 
have  a  brother." 

"  I  do  not  forget  this,"  said  Ruth,  "  oh,  how  I  praise 
God  for  revealing  my  relationship  to  William  Mortimer 
before  I  was  left  an  orphan ;  but,  Esther,  I  do  not  know 
why  it  is,  somehow  there  has  been  a  shadow  on  my 
heart  ever  since  the  sun  broke  through  the  clouds  of 
this  mystery  of  my  parentage ;  I  have  really  been 
afraid  to  let  my  heart  go  out  to  William  Mortimer 
as  a  brother  as  I  would  like,  yet  I  cannot  control 
my  affection ;  "  and  she  added,  "  Esther  Bates,  as 
much  as  I  loved  my  mother,  I  never  have  loved 
her  as  intensely  as  I  do  my  brother,  William  Mor 
timer." 

This  conversation  took  place  on  the  evening  of  the 
day  in  which  they  had  buried  Mrs.  Page  in  Greenwood. 
Esther,  ascribing  Ruth's  gloom  to  the  peculiar  nature 
of  her  parting  with  her  mother,  and  the  strain  of  the 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  3OI 

day's  sad  scene,  answered  soothingly,  "  Ruth,  let  us  go 
to  bed  now,  you  are  worn  out,  and  you  need  to  have 
your  mind  clear  for  to-morrow,  when  you  will  have  to 
decide  your  plans  about  the  future." 

"  Yes,"  said  Ruth,  "  I  must  examine,  to-morrow, 
mother's  papers,  and  see  what  I  must  do  about  the 
property  she  has  left  me  in  her  will,"  then  added  with 
a  sigh,  "  oh,  how  much  I  need  my  brother  just 
now." 

"  Well,  forget  your  brother  and  everything  else,  and 
try  to  rest  your  mind  on  God,"  said  Esther. 

"  Ah,  that  is  the  true  way,"  answered  Ruth,  and  they 
knelt  together  and  in  communion  with  their  Elder 
Brother  found  "  rest  for  their  souls." 

The  next  morning  Ruth  awoke  quite  well  and  cheerful. 
After  their  breakfast  they  went  into  the  library,  and 
Ruth  brought  out  the  box  which  contained  her  mother's 
will ;  she  was  about  to  open  it  when  Dr.  Strong  was 
announced.  "  Oh,  I  cannot  see  him  now,"  exclaimed 
Ruth,  "  though  I  appreciate  his  kindness  in  calling ;  " 
but  then  she  stopped  and  said,  "  Esther,  I  do  not  know 
but  this  call  is  providential.  I  am  little  acquainted 
with  legal  forms  but  think  there  ought  to  be  a  witness 
to  the  opening  of  this  will,  though,  after  all,  there  can 
be  no  contest  about  it,  for  I  am  the  only  daughter  of 
my  mother  and  she  has  often  told  me  she  made  me 
her  sole  heir  and  executrix." 

Dr.  Strong  having  been  invited  up  to  the  library, 
Ruth  unlocked  the  box,  the  key  of  which  Mrs.  Page 
had  taken  from  her  bosom  and  handed  to  Esther  the 
day  before  she  died,  saying,  "  Esther,  I  have  always 


3O2  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

kept  my  will  a  secret  from  Ruth.  Why  so,  you  will 
understand  when  my  papers  are  examined."  The  first 
paper  Ruth  took  out  was  Mrs.  Page's  will.  She  opened  it, 
read  its  first  line,  started  to  her  feet,  exclaiming,  "  Why  ! 
what  does  this  mean?  "  her  hand  trembling  so  that  she 
could  not  hold  the  paper. 

Dr.  Strong,  seeing  something  was  wrong,  motioned 
to  Esther  to  support  Ruth,  and,  picking  up  the  paper 
from  the  floor,  said,  "  Miss  Mortimer,  shall  I  read  it  for 
you?" 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Ruth,  faintly  leaning  her  head  on 
Esther's  shoulder. 

Dr.  Strong  read  Mrs.  Page's  will.  It  bequeathed  all 
her  real  and  personal  estate  to  her  adopted  daughter, 
Ruth  Morton. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  will  was  a  note  to  the  effect 
that  in  another  paper  marked  "A"  in  the  same  box 
would  be  found  an  explanation  of  the  name  of  "  my 
adopted  daughter."  Ruth  sprang  to  the  box,  drew  out 
the  next  paper  and  tremblingly  handed  it  to  the 
doctor. 

He  glanced  over  it,  then  said,  "Shall  I  read  this? 
There  seems  to  be  something  here  you  might  wish  to 
have  kept  secret." 

"  No,"  said  Ruth,  "  there  is  nothing  I  wish  kept 
secret.  I  only  desire  that  every  secret  thing  shall  be 
brought  to  light.  If  my  mother  has  just  cause  for  thus 
disinheriting  me,  all  right ;  but  I  only  wonder  that  she 
kept  me  thus  long  in  ignorance  of  this  adopted  daughter 
of  hers." 

Dr.  Strong  read  as  follows : 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  303 

"  I,  Mary  Page,  formerly  the  wife  of  Eugene 
Mortimer,  make  this  my  last  and  true  confession. 
I  acknowledge  that  I  have  hitherto  lied  in  my  state 
ments  about  the  child  born  to  myself  and  Eugene 
Mortimer,  after  my  divorce  from  him.  Therefore,  let 
me  first  state  that  fortunately  witnesses  are  still  living 
and  records  are  in  existence  which  can  prove  that, 
however  I  may  have  lied  in  the  past,  what  I  am  now 
about  to  state  is  absolute  truth.  After  my  separation 
from  Eugene  Mortimer  I  went  to  Chicago,  where  a 
child  was  born.  This  child  died  three  years  afterward. 
I  was  then  in  California,  living  in  a  hamlet  called 
Scioto.  In  order  to  keep  the  money  which  Eugene 
Mortimer  gave  me,  fearing,  as  I  did,  that  his 
son  William  might  claim  the  $50,000,  I  had  the  child 
quietly  buried,  then  left  Scioto,  removing  to  St.  Louis, 
where  I  obtained  from  an  orphan  asylum  a  female 
infant  but  a  year  old.  The  parents  of  this  child, 
Robert  and  Elizabeth  Morton,  were  descendants  of  a 
good  English  family.  They  had  left  their  native 
country  with  a  view  of  making  their  fortune  in  America. 
Here,  however,  they  lost  all  their  property  and  died 
within  a  week  of  each  other,  leaving  their  only  child  so 
destitute  and  friendless  that  it  was  sent  to  the  orphan 
asylum.  There  I  found  it  and  from  thence  took  it  to 
adopt  it  as  my  own.  I  gave  it  the  name  of  Ruth  M. 
Page,  thinking  that  I  could  use  the  M.  either  to  mean 
Mortimer  or  Morton,  as  I  might  find  best  for  my 
own  interests.  Do  you  ask  why  I  did  all  this?  I 
confess  before  God  that  it  was  my  covetous  desire  to 
keep  the  $50,000  and  my  hatred  of  Eugene  Mortimer, 


304  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

whose  purpose  for  his  daughter  I  thus  delighted    in 
cheating.     I  did  this  because  I  loved  to  do  it.* 

"  Since  I  have  met  William  Mortimer  and  witnessed 
his  kindness  to  myself  and  Ruth,  I  feel  that  I  have  done 
him  a  wrong  and  that  the  sin  of  his  father  ought  not  to 
be  visited  on  his  head ;  I  realize  also  the  wrong  I  have 
done  to  Ruth,  who  has  repaid  my  life-long  injury  to 
her  by  a  life-long  devotion  to  me ;  I  can  only  try  to 
atone  for  it  by  beseeching  William  Mortimer  not 
to  disturb  her,  —  a  poor,  lone  girl,  —  in  the  possession 
of  the  money  I  leave  her.  I  would  have  made  this 
confession  before,  but  I  could  not  bear  the  thought  of 
the  upbraiding  which  would  come  to  me  from  this 
adopted  daughter ;  but  now  as  my  days  are  drawing  to 
a  close,  and  as  I  believe  William  Mortimer  will  not  take 
the  money  from  a  poor,  unprotected  orphan,  I  have 
divulged  this  secret,  and  as  a  slight  reparation  for  the 
injury  I  have  done  Ruth  Morton  Page,  my  adopted 
daughter,  I  leave  to  her  all  my  fortune,  and  I  direct 
her  to  these  proofs  for  establishing  her  true  parentage  — 
First,  the  records  of  death  in  St.  Louis  will  show  that 
Robert  and  Elizabeth  Morton  died  there  in  the  year 
1840  of  smallpox,  within  a  week  of  each  other,  leaving 
an  only  child  —  a  daughter.  Second,  the  records  of 

*  Dr.  Ray  in  his  "Treatise  on  the  Medical  Jurisprudence  of  Insanity,"  fifth 
edition,  Boston,  1871,  (page  223),  says:  "I  once  asked  a  patient,  who  was  con 
stantly  saying  or  doing  something  to  annoy  or  disturb  others,  while  his  intellect 
was  apparently  as  free  from  delusion  or  any  other  impairment  as  ever,  whether  in 
committing  his  aggressive  acts  he  felt  constrained  by  an  irresistible  impulse 
contrary  to  his  convictions  of  right,  or  was  not  aware  at  the  moment  that  he  was 
doing  wrong.  His  reply  should  sink  deeply  into  the  hearts  of  those  who  legislate 
for  or  sit  in  judgment  on  the  insane :  '  I  neither  acted  from  an  irresistible  impulse 
nor  upon  the  belief  that  I  was  doing  right.  I  knew  perfectly  well  I  was  doing 
wrong,  and  I  might  have  refrained  if  I  had  pleased.  I  did  thus  and  so  because  I 
loved  to  do  it.  It  gave  me  an  indescribable  pleasure  to  do  wrong.'  " 


CR,   THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  305 

the  city  and  of  that  Orphan  Asylum  will  show  that 
said  child  was  taken  into  that  asylum.  Third,  the 
records  of  that  asylum  will  show  that  on  such  a  day  I 
visited  it  and  obtained  the  child  of  Robert  and 
Elizabeth  Morton  to  adopt  as  my  own,  and  in  order  to 
identify  myself  I  left  a  peculiar  ring  which  can  be 
found  in  that  asylum."  (A  discription  of  the  ring  here 
followed).  "  As  to  the  death  of  the  child  born  to  me 
of  Eugene  Mortimer,  this  can  be  established  by  the 
physician  who  attended  it  in  its  last  illness,  he,  I  learn, 
is  still  living ;  also  by  the  undertaker  who  attended  to 
its  burial.  Its  place  of  burial  will  be  found  in  the 
hamlet  of  Scioto,  near  the  country  house  I  then 
occupied,  with  a  stone  on  it  marked  Ruth  Mortimer 
Page.  I  have  now  at  last  told  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth.  I  call  Almighty  God 
to  witness  to  this,  may  He  have  mercy  on  my  soul." 

A  painful  silence  followed  the  reading  of  this  paper. 
Ruth  lay  sobbing  on  the  bosom  of  Esther  Bates,  who 
said  nothing  but  evidently  was  in  earnest  prayer.  At 
last  Ruth  got  composed  enough  to  say,  "  I  am  afraid 
this  is  all  true." 

"  It  looks  like  it,"  said  Dr.  Strong,  not  knowing  what 
better  to  say. 

"  Oh  !  "  exclaimed  Ruth,  "  what  will  William  Morti 
mer  say,  what  will  he  think  of  me,  I  am  afraid  he  will 
despise  me,  he  will  never  be  persuaded  that  I  knew 
nothing  of  this ;  oh,  I  can  stand  it  all  except  to  think 
that  he,  to  whom  my  heart  has  so  gone  out  as  a  brother, 
is  now  to  be  lost  to  me  !  Oh,  God  !  permit  me  now  to 
die;  why,  why  hast  Thou  inflicted  on  me,  a  poor, 
helpless  girl,  such  an  injury  !  " 


306  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

This  woke  up  Esther.  "  Ruth,"  she  exclaimed, 
"  lose  everything,  but  don't  lose  your  faith  in  God ; 
His  ways  are  not  as  our  ways,  His  thoughts  are  not  as 
our  thoughts ;  there  is  a  cloud  of  mercy  in  all  this 
which  may  yet  break  in  blessings  on  your  head." 

"  No,  I  will  not  lose  my  faith  in  God,"  said  Ruth, 
"  though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him  ;  but,  Esther 
and  Dr.  Strong,  I  do  beg  you  to  do  one  favor  for  me,  it 
is  the  last  I  shall  ever  ask  of  you ;  if  you  believe  that  I 
had  not  the  least  suspicion  that  such  was  my  parentage, 
then  do  try  to  make  William  Mortimer  so  believe.  I 
shall  never  see  him  again,  I  will  not  touch  a  cent  of  this 
property,  it  belongs  to  him ;  here,  take  these  papers," 
and  handing  them  to  Dr.  Strong  she  said,  "  please 
hand  these  to  Mr.  Mortimer  when  he  returns,  and  bid 
him  good  bye  from  Ruth  Morton." 

"  No,  Miss  Morton,"  said  the  doctor,  "  I  will  not  take 
the  papers,  let  Mrs.  Bates  keep  them,  Mortimer  has 
full  confidence  in  her;  but  now,  Miss  Morton,"  he 
added,  "  let  me  beg  you  to  think  this  matter  over,  I 
will  see  you  again  to-morrow,"  and  handing  the  papers 
to  Esther,  he  whispered,  "  let  me  see  you  in  the  parlor." 
Esther  followed  the  doctor  to  the  parlor  and  left  Ruth 
alone. 

The  moment  they  were  alone  Dr.  Strong  said,  "  Mrs. 
Bates,  I  dislike  to  take  you  away  one  moment  from 
Ruth,  for  I  fear  she  may  commit  suicide,  she  seems  so 
over-burdened  with  a  sense  of  mortification  and  despair 
at  the  effect  she  supposes  this  will  have  on  William 
Mortimer ;  but,  Mrs.  Bates,  I  just  want  to  say  this,  I 
shall  cable  immediately  for  William  Mortimer,  and  shall 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  307 

see  him  on  his  arrival  and  will  do  my  best  for  Ruth ; 
she  is  a  noble  woman  and  entirely  innocent  in  this 
whole  transaction ;  and  I  tell  you,"  said  Dr.  Strong, 
with  an  emphasis  that  showed  his  very  soul  was  in  the 
declaration,  "  if  William  Mortimer  is  not  the  greatest 
fool  on  earth,  he  will  see  that  the  name  of  that  young 
lady  becomes  in  truth  Ruth  Mortimer" 

"You  don't  know  Ruth  as  I  do,"  replied  Esther, 
"  there  is  not  the  slightest  fear  of  her  committing 
suicide,  she  is  too  unselfish." 

"What  in  the  world  has  selfishness  to  do  with  a 
person  committing  suicide?"  inquired  the  doctor. 

"  Because,"  answered  Esther,  "  the  most  selfish  thing 
a  person  can  do  is,  by  taking  their  life,  to  plunge  others 
into  distress  in  order  to  escape  distress  themselves." 

"Well,  what  do  you  think  she  will  do?"  asked  the 
doctor. 

"  I  think  she  will  refuse  to  ever  see  Mortimer  again." 

"  That  she  shall  not  do,"  exclaimed  the  doctor,  "  if 
Mortimer  feels  as  I  think  he  will,  I  shall  see  that  they 
meet  again." 

Esther  went  back  to  the  room  to  try  to  comfort  Ruth, 
but  the  latter  seemed  inconsolable.  "  I  do  not  care," 
said  Ruth,  "  about  the  loss  of  the  money,  but  I  do  care 
about  the  position  this  places  me  in  as  regards  Mr. 
Mortimer.  I  have  tried  to  act  in  the  most  circumspect 
manner  towards  him,  for  I  confess  that  something 
inscrutable  seemed  to  hold  me  back  from  what  might 
be  regarded  as  proper  sisterly  demonstrations ;  only 
once  have  I  given  way  to  my  feelings,  that  was  when 
we  parted  on  the  steamer ;  but  to  think  that  then  my 


308  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

arms  were  around  the  neck  of  a  gentleman  to  whom  I 
have  not  the  slightest  relationship  and  that  I  actually 
kissed  him ;  "  and  poor  Ruth's  virgin  modesty  rebelled 
at  this  remembrance.  "Then,  again,  Esther,"  she  con 
tinued,  "I  cannot  but  blame  Mortimer  for  not  himself 
discovering  all  this  before.  I  trusted  not  only  to  his 
affection,  as  a  supposed  brother,  but  to  his  knowledge 
as  a  competent  lawyer ;  when  he  assured  me  that  the 
discovery  of  the  paper  and  of  its  witnesses  established 
our  relationship  I  was  satisfied  that  it  was  established. 
Yet,"  she  musingly  added,  "  I  do  believe  he  was 
himself  deceived ;  he  is  too  noble  and  too  pure  to 
claim  my  sisterly  affection  if  he  did  not  really  believe  I 
was  his  sister ;  but  one  thing  is  certain,  we  must  never 
meet  each  other  again." 

"  Ruth,"  said  Esther,  calmly,  when  she  was  able  to 
get  in  a  word,  "  it  seems  to  me  that  you  overlook  one 
possibility  —  that  the  love  Mortimer  held  to  you  as  a 
sister  may  continue  to  you  as  a  friend,  yea,  as  some 
thing  more  than  a  friend." 

"  Stop,  Esther  Bates,"  said  Ruth,  authoritatively, 
"  never  dare  to  hint  such  a  thing  to  me ;  no,  my  peace 
of  mind  will  depend  on  my  never  again  seeing  William 
Mortimer." 

Ruth  was  uncommonly  taciturn  the  rest  of  the  day; 
indeed,  she  spent  most  of  it  alone  in  her  room.  In 
the  evening,  however,  she  came  and  talked  calmly  with 
Esther  over  the  subject  of  the  wonderful  ways  of  God's 
providence,  avoiding  all  mention  of  Mortimer.  When 
they  parted  that  night  Esther  offered  to  sleep  with 
Ruth,  but  she  said,  "  No,  Esther,  my  mind  is  perfectly 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  309 

calm  now  and  I  am  so  tired  out  that  I  shall  not  wake 
till  morning." 

Esther,  however,  stole  in  the  middle  of  the  night  into 
Ruth's  room ;  she  was  lying  in  a  calm  slumber,  though 
her  pillow  showed  that  it  had  been  moistened  with  her 
tears;  Esther  felt  so  satisfied  about  Ruth's  condition 
that  she  went  back  to  her  own  room  and  fell  into  a 
profound  slumber.  It  was  unusually  late  when  Esther 
awoke ;  she  hurried  to  Ruth's  room,  but  Ruth  was  not 
there.  She  went  through  the  house,  but  still  could  not 
find  Ruth.  She  asked  the  servant  whether  Miss  Ruth 
had  gone  out,  "  Yes,"  said  the  servant,  "  I  saw  her 
leave  the  house  this  morning  with  a  satchel,  probably 
she  has  gone  on  some  errand." 

Esther  waited  till  noon  and  then  went  to  consult  Dr. 
Strong,  feeling  half  ashamed  to  confess  her  suspicion 
that  Ruth  had  left  the  city.  The  doctor  advised  her 
to  wait  till  evening,  for  he  said,  "  It  would  be  extremely 
awkward  to  institute  a  search  for  Miss  Morton  when 
she  may  have  merely  gone  to  call  on  a  friend." 

But  night  came,  yet  no  Ruth.  Esther  then  began  to 
be  in  great  alarm  ;  at  her  earnest  solicitation  Dr.  Strong 
employed  a  detective,  who,  on  returning  the  next 
morning,  reported  that  a  lady  answering  to  their  de 
scription  of  Miss  Morton  had  been  seen  to  take  a  train 
for  the  North.  The  detective  was  ordered  to  go  in 
pursuit ;  he  did  not  return  for  a  week  and  then  reported 
that  after  tracking  the  lady  as  far  as  Albany  he  could 
not  trace  her  farther.  Nothing  remained  to  do  but  to 
await  the  return  of  Mortimer,  who  was  expected  in  a 
few  days. 


JIO  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

THE   SEARCH   FOR   RUTH. 

When  the  Cunard  steamer  reached  her  dock,  Morti 
mer  found  Dr.  Strong  awaiting  him.  As  soon  as 
Mortimer  met  his  friend,  without  even  stopping  to  pass 
the  usual  greetings,  he  abruptly  asked,  "  What  has 
happened  !  Is  Ruth  dead?  " 

"  No,"  said  the  doctor,  wishing  to  delay  the  revelation 
till  he  got  Mortimer  into  Esther's  presence. 

" What,  then,  is  the  matter?"  demanded  Mortimer, 
"  I  see  you  have  some  terrible  revelation  to  make,  why 
keep  me  longer  in  suspense." 

"  Mortimer,"  answered  Dr.  Strong,  "  I  certainly  have 
proved  my  friendship  for  you  long  enough  to  have  you 
now  trust  its  wisdom ;  I  ask  you  to  simply  wait  till  we 
get  to  Ruth's  house,  where  Esther  is  waiting  for  you, 
she  will  tell  you  all ;  but,  to  ease  somewhat  your  mind, 
I  will  say  that  what  you  are  to  learn  is  not  necessarily 
an  injury  to  any  living  soul." 

Mortimer  sank  back  in  his  carriage,  until  he  reached 
the  house,  then  he  sprang  out,  the  doctor  quickly 
following  him.  Esther  was  standing  in  the  parlor,  he 
fairly  glared  at  her  and  trembling  with  excitement 
exclaimed,  "Where  is  my  sister?" 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  311 

"  Sit  down  a  moment,"  said  Esther,  gently  drawing 
him  to  a  seat  by  her  side  while  Dr.  Strong  took  his 
place  on  the  other  side,  "  I  want  to  tell  you  some 
thing." 

"  I  won't  hear  anything,"  said  Mortimer,  "  but  about 
Ruth,  I  had  a  horrible  dream  about  her  just  two  weeks 
ago "  (the  doctor  and  Esther  glanced  at  each  other, 
it  was  just  the  day  when  Ruth  fled).  "  I  saw  her  in  my 
dream  come  to  me,  imprint  a  kiss  on  my  cheek,  and 
then  say,  '  Good  bye,  William,  forever/  and  she  glided 
from  me.  I  demand,"  said  he,  looking  sternly  at 
Esther,  "  an  answer  to  my  question,  —  where  is  Ruth?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  gasped  out  Esther. 

"Mortimer,"  interposed  Dr.  Strong,  "just  try  to 
quiet  yourself  and  I  will  tell  you  all."  He  then  began 
and  narrated  the  events  of  which  the  reader  was 
informed  in  the  last  chapter,  he  dwelt  particularly  on 
the  fact  that  the  heaviest  part  of  the  blow  to  Ruth  was 
the  termination  of  her  supposed  relationship  to  Morti 
mer,  and  the  greatest  anxiety  on  her  mind  was  lest 
Mortimer  should  believe  she  had  not  been  entirely 
ignorant  of  her  parentage. 

Mortimer  listened  to  the  recital  with  moody  silence, 
then  sprang  to  his  feet  saying,  "  Esther,  come  and  go 
with  me." 

"Where  are  you  going?"  asked  Esther. 

"To  St.  Louis;  why,  those  detectives  are  a  pack  of 
fools,  they  might  have  known  that  the  first  place  Ruth 
would  go  to  would  be  St.  Louis,  to  test  the  truth  of  her 
mother's  account  about  her  parentage ;  and  the  next 
place  would  be  Scioto,  California,  to  find  whether  Mrs. 


312  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

Page's  account  of  the  death  and  burial  of  her  own  child 
could  be  verified." 

"Why,  Mortimer,"  said  Dr.  Strong,  "you  do  not 
propose  to  go  to  California  in  search  of  Ruth." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Mortimer,  "  and  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth  rather  than  relinquish  my  search  for  her,  I  cannot 
live  without  Ruth." 

For  the  first  time  Dr.  Strong  smiled  and  looked  at 
Esther,  whose  countenance  wore  a  look  of  intense 
satisfaction.  But  she  interposed  with,  "William,  you 
do  not  really  need  me,  you  yourself  know  best  how  to 
search  for  Ruth ;  besides,  you  must  remember  I  am 
growing  old  and  cannot  hurry  through  the  world  as 
fast  as  yourself." 

"  No,  no,"  said  Mortimer,  "  you  must  go,  Esther.  I 
shall  need  you,  not  only  to  help  me  find  Ruth,  but  to 
plead  my  cause  with  her;  yes,  dear  friend,  you  who 
have  been  such  a  friend  to  me  thus  far  must  not 
forsake  me  now." 

"  I  will  go,"  said  Esther.  A  few  hurried  preparations 
were  made  and  they  started  together  for  the  West. 

On  their  journey  to  St.  Louis,  Mortimer  had  the 
opportunity  to  talk  more  calmly  and  fully  with  Esther. 
She  told  him  she  had  found  that  Ruth  had  not  taken 
anything  with  her,  she  had  been  careful  to  leave  all 
Mrs.  Page's  property  untouched.  "  Indeed,"  added 
Esther,  "  the  only  wonder  to  me  is  how  she  has  money 
sufficient  for  her  journey." 

"  That  gives  me  hope,"  said  Mortimer,  "  that  we  may 
overtake  her  ere  long,  her  money  must  run  out  and  her 
flight  be  thus  brought  to  an  end  ;  but  what  a  girl  Ruth  is, 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  313 

how  few  in  like  circumstances  would  have  thought  of 
giving  up  Mrs.  Page's  money;  indeed,  she  has  a  lawful 
claim  to  it,  for  there  is  nothing  in  that  agreement  between 
her  and  my  father  to  bind  Mrs.  Page  to  give  it  only  to 
his  child,  —  but  Ruth  has  such  a  high  sense  of  honor." 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  replied  Esther,  "  that  Ruth's  real 
reason  was  her  fear  that  if  she  touched  any  of  it,  it 
would  make  her  seem  to  you  an  accomplice  with  her 
mother." 

"  She  need  not  have  feared  that,"  said  Mortimer,  "  I 
know  the  pure,  lofty  soul  of  Ruth  too  well  to  have  a 
shadow  of  such  a  "Suspicion. " 

"  But,  William,"  asked  Esther,  "  how  was  it  that  you 
as  a  lawyer  did  not  know  that  even  if  a  paper  was 
found  which  established  the  anticipated  birth  of  a  child 
to  Mrs.  Page,  proof  was  still  needed  that  Ruth  was  that 
child." 

"  Esther,"  replied  Mortimer,  "  I  will  make  a  con 
fession.  There  has  been  all  along  a  feeling  in  my  heart 
that  the  very  link  you  mention  ought  to  be  supplied. 
I  once  came  near  sending  a  lawyer  to  Chicago  to 
examine  into  this  very  point,  but  I  somehow  felt,  I 
cannot  tell  you  why,  that  if  this  relationship  was 
disproved,  Ruth  would  do  this  very  thing,  leave  me, 
and  I  could  not  brook  the  thought  of  it,  I  wanted  her 
at  least  as  a  sister.  Esther,"  he  added,  "  some  may 
laugh  at  it,  but  I  assure  you,  for  I  have  had  it  so  often 
happen  in  my  experience  that  I  cannot  doubt  it,  there 
is  a  power  of  prophecy  in  the  human  mind.  People 
sometimes  are  surprised,  while  passing  through  certain 
scenes,  by  the  impression  that  they  have  somehow 


314  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

been  through  it  all  before.  Some  explain  this  by 
supposing  a  previous  existence  of  the  soul  —  no,  it  is 
the  prophesying  power  of  the  soul  which  has  already 
foreshadowed  the  coming  event." 

"Well,"  said  Esther,  "that  accords  with  my  own 
view  —  that  the  spirit  of  God,  which  is  also  'the  spirit 
of  prophecy/  when  it  takes  up  its  abode  in  a  human 
heart,  does  as  Christ  said,  '  Show  his  people  things  to 
come.'" 

On  reaching  St.  Louis,  Mortimer  and  Esther  sought 
out  the  orphan  asylum ;  they  found  that  Ruth  had  been 
there ;  also  tracked  her  to  the  health  office  where  the 
death  of  her  parents  was  recorded  ;  also  found  that  she 
had  obtained  the  ring  Mrs.  Page  left  at  the  orphan 
asylum  to  identify  herself,  and  that  she  had  then  left 
for  the  West.  "Just  as  I  thought,"  said  Mortimer, 
"  Ruth  has  gone  to  California  to  verify  the  truth  of 
Mrs.  Page's  story  about  the  death  and  burial  of  her 
own  child.  We  will  rest  here  for  a  day,  for  this  will 
enable  me  to  examine  the  evidences  of  Ruth's  being 
the  child  of  Robert  and  Elizabeth  Morton,  I  want  this 
established  before  I  meet  Ruth."  This  was  so  fully 
established  that  Mortimer  said  to  Esther,  "  There  is 
now  no  doubt  that  Ruth  Morton  is  not  the  slightest 
relation  to  me  —  thank  God  !  " 

Esther  saw  the  drift  of  Mortimer's  thoughts  and 
intentions,  and  she  began  to  fear  he  was  building  too 
much  on  what  he  supposed  were  Ruth's  feelings  toward 
him.  "  William,"  she  began,  "  as  we  will  in  a  few  days 
be  at  Scioto,  where  we  may  find  Ruth,  I  want  to 
prepare  you  for  something." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  315 

"Something  about  Ruth?"  inquired  Mortimer,  anx 
iously. 

"Yes,"  answered  Esther. 

"Well,  speak  it  right  out,  Esther.  You  are  a  good 
woman  and  I  believe  every  word  you  say." 

"  William,  I  see  you  have  so  much  affection  for  Ruth 
that  I  am  afraid,  when  you  meet  her,  you  will  at  once 
propose  to  her." 

Mortimer,  amid  all  his  gloom,  could  not  help 
laughing,  but  answered,  "  Well,  Esther,  suppose  I  do, 
would  that  be  anything  wrong?  There  is  not  the 
slightest  relationship  between  us." 

"  But,  William,  have  you  ever  thought  that  it  takes 
two  to  make  a  bargain  ?  " 

Mortimer  started,  and  said,  "Why,  Esther,  do  you 
think  Ruth  would  refuse  me?  I  do  not  want  to  flatter 
myself  unduly,  but,  if  I  read  her  heart  aright,  she  loved 
me  with  intense  affection." 

"  Yes,"  answered  Esther,  "  but  as  a  brother." 

Mortimer  seemed  much  distressed  ;  this  was  evidently 
a  new  thought.  He  could  not  sleep  that  night. 
Esther's  suggestion  had  worried  him  more  than  he 
was  willing  to  allow,  the  more  so  because  it  brought  to 
his  memory  the  caution  which  Ruth  had  exercised  in 
their  personal  intercourse.  Still,  there  was  one  event 
which  Esther  was  ignorant  of.  This  he  determined  to 
tell  her  and  let  her  judge  whether  it  should  afford  him 
the  encouragement  he  hoped. 

He  therefore  said  to  Esther,  the  next  day,  "  You 
seem  to  think  it's  doubtful  whether  Ruth  loves  me." 

"  No,"  said  Esther^  "  I  did  not  say  that.     I  merely 


316  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

said  it  might  be  doubtful  whether  her  love  was  anything 
but  sisterly  affection." 

"  Let  me  then  tell  you  something,  Esther.  You  did 
not  see  our  parting  on  the  steamer." 

"  No,"  said  Esther,  "  as  you  were  taking  leave  of 
each  other,  Dr.  Strong  hustled  me  away  as  if  I  was  so 
much  baggage." 

"Well,"  said  Mortimer,  "when  you  left  us  no  one 
was  near.  I  longed  to  give  Ruth  a  parting  kiss,  for  I 
somehow  felt  we  might  never  meet  again.  She  read 
my  mind,  and,  in  bidding  me  good-bye,  put  up  her 
mouth.  As  I  stooped  to  kiss  her  she  seemed  to  be  so 
completely  swept  away  from  her  usual  self-control,  that 
she  flung  her  arms  around  my  neck  and  exclaimed, 
with  a  most  passionate  embrace,  *  Oh,  William,  I  cannot 
let  you  go,  my  heart  seems  almost  breaking.  I  can 
not  live  without  you.'  It  was  so  different  from  Ruth's 
usual  reserve  that  in  my  surprise  I  hardly  returned  her 
embrace.  Then,  as  if  recalling  herself,  she  fairly  leaped 
from  my  arms,  and  said,  '  Oh,  what  am  I  saying? 
God  forgive  me  ! '  and  she  turned  and  actually  fled  from 
me. 

"  I  think  the  very  remembrance  of  this  scene  was 
what  made  her  so  guarded  in  her  subsequent  letters  to 
me,  and  it  is  this  which  overwhelms  her  with  mortifi 
cation  to  think  that  she  had  poured  out  the  wealth  of 
her  heart's  love  on  one  who  was  no  relation  to  her. 
This,  in  one  sense,  encourages  me ;  in  another  it  makes 
me  anxious  lest  she  should  experience  that  revulsion 
of  feeling  which  makes  us  sometimes  hate  with  that 
intensity  with  which  we  previously  loved." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  317 

Esther  said  nothing,  but  looked  out  of  the  car 
window.  Mortimer,  half  angry  at  her  un-sympathetic 
silence,  said,  "  Esther,  I  feel  so  miserable  that  I  can't 
be  made  more  so.  Therefore,  if  you  have  any  more 
shadows  to  cast  over  my  hopes,  please  cast  them  now." 

"  There  is  something  else  I  do  want  to  say,"  replied 
Esther.  "  I  want  you  to  promise  me  one  thing,  —  that, 
even  if  we  find  where  Ruth  is,  you  will  let  me  be  the 
first  to  see  her ;  also  that  before  you  meet  Ruth  you 
will  let  me  say  something  to  you." 

"  Horror  of  horrors  !  "  said  Mortimer.  "  You  have 
already  worked  up  my  mind  to  a  state  of  suspense,  and 
you  want  to  prolong  that  suspense  even  after  we  have 
found  Ruth." 

"  William,"  quietly  replied  Esther,  "  have  I  not 
already  done  enough  to  prove  that  my  only  wish  and 
aim  is  your  highest  good?  " 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  dear  friend,"  said  Mortimer, 
now  thoroughly  ashamed  of  his  hasty  words.  "  Ever 
since  we  first  met  you  have  shown  an  unselfish  care  for 
my  higher  interests.  Forgive  me,  I  beseech  you,"  and 
Mortimer  looked  so  humble  and  penitent  that  Esther 
could  but  forgive,  but  she  said,  "  Remember,  William, 
that  you  have  solemnly  promised  me  this." 

At  last  they  reached  Scioto  and  found  that  Ruth  had 
been  there,  but  had  left  as  soon  as  she  had  proved 
that  part  of  Mrs.  Page's  confession  relating  to  the 
death  of  her  own  daughter.  Ruth  had  also  visited  the 
grave  of  Ruth  Mortimer  Page,  had  found  the  under 
taker  who  buried  the  child  and  the  physician  who  had 
attended  it  in  its  last  sickness.  She  had  then  left, 


318  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

taking  the  train  for  San  Francisco.  Mortimer,  after 
investigating  other  evidences  which  his  legal  knowledge 
suggested  the  importance  of  to  strengthen  the  proof  that 
Mrs.  Page's  first  and  only  child  was  buried  in  Scioto, 
hurried  on  to  San  Francisco,  but  there  all  trace  of  Ruth 
vanished.  He  spent  a  week  at  the  hotels,  utilizing 
every  means  to  get  on  her  track,  but  all  in  vain.  A  case 
of  suicide  of  a  young  woman  had  occurred.  Mortimer 
visited  the  morgue  and  was  relieved  to  find  that  the 
body  bore  not  the  slightest  resemblance  to  Ruth. 

Another  week  passed,  yet  no  tidings  of  the  missing 
one.  Mortimer  began  to  feel  discouraged;  Esther, 
however,  felt  hopeful.  "  Have  patience,  William,"  she 
said.  "  God  will  yet  answer  our  prayers." 

"  Well,  then,  Esther,  you  keep  on  praying  and  I  will 
keep  on  watching." 

"  I  don't  believe  God  ever  intended  any  such  parcel 
ling  out  of  duty,  William,  for  he  says  to  each  person, 
'  Watch  and  pray.'  " 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  319 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THREE  CLERGYMEN  DISCUSS  CHRISTIAN  HEALING,  AND 
INCIDENTALLY  GIVE  A  CLEW  TO  RUTH'S  WHEREABOUTS. 

Mortimer  was  resting  in  the  reading-room  of  the 
hotel,  pondering  what  more  could  be  done  to  find  Ruth. 
A  gentleman  attired  as  a  clergyman  sitting  near  him 
noticed  the  anxious  expression  on  Mortimer's  face, 
and,  suspecting  there  was  some  sorrow  in  his  heart, 
drew  him  into  conversation.  They  were  beginning  to 
feel  quite  well  acquainted,  when  two  gentlemen  entered 
and  greeted  Mortimer's  new  acquaintance  as  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Lockett,  saying  to  him,  "We  saw  your 
arrival  in  the  morning  papers,  doctor,  and  want  to 
engage  you  to  speak  at  a  grand  union  meeting  to  be 
held  to-night." 

Mortimer  rose  to  leave  Dr.  Lockett  with  his  friends, 
when  the  doctor  gently  detained  him,  saying,  "  Let  me 
introduce  to  you  Rev.  Dr.  Samply  and  Rev.  Mr.  Bruce. 
Brethren,  this  gentleman  is,  like  myself,  a  stranger  in 
your  city  and  probably  feels  lonely.  Perhaps  he  may 
find  some  cheer  even  in  us  sober-faced  ministers." 

Mortimer  pleasantly  replied,  "  My  name  is  Mortimer, 
William  Mortimer  of  New  York  city.  I  am  a  lawyer 


320  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

and  always  feel  at  home  with  clergymen,  for  while  they 
teach  the  principles  of  law,  we  attend  to  putting  them 
into  our  practice." 

None  better  appreciate  a  pleasant  hit  than  clergymen, 
they  shook  Mortimer  heartily  by  the  hand,  Dr.  Lockett 
replying,  "  I  have  some  sympathy  with  Mr.  Mortimer's 
view,  for  I  was  a  physician  before  becoming  a  minister, 
and  it  has  always  been  a  consolation  to  me  to  know 
that  I  was  once  a  practitioner,  even  if  now  I  am  merely 
a  poor  preacher." 

"  Speaking  of  practising,"  said  Dr.  Samply,  "  reminds 
me  that  a  new  kind  of  both  preaching  and  practice  has 
appeared  here  lately." 

"  What  is  this  new  thing  under  the  sun?"  inquired 
Dr.  Lockett. 

"  They  call  it  Christian  Science.  You  must  have 
heard  of  it,  for  it  originated  somewhere  down  East." 

"  Yes,"  answered  Dr.  Lockett,  "  I  have  heard  of  it  in 
many  places." 

"  Well,"  exclaimed  Dr.  Samply,  "  did  you  ever  hear 
such  a  mess  of  nonsense  and  mixed  theology?  Why, 
they  actually  assert  that  disease  is  an  error  and  that 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  matter." 

"  Have  they  cured  any  persons  in  your  city?  "  asked 
Dr.  Lockett. 

"  They  claim  to  have  done  so,"  answered  Dr.  Samply, 
"  but  I  think  all  their  apparent  cures  are  due  to  the 
influence  of  the  mind  over  the  body." 

"  Perhaps  so,"  was  all  the  reply  Dr.  Lockett  made. 

Mr.  Bruce,  who  had  set  listening  intently  to  the 
conversations  of  the  other  divines,  here  broke  in  with 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  321 

"Dr.  Lockett,  if  I  mistake  not,  you  have  yourself 
written  something  on  the  relation  of  Christianity  to 
bodily  healing.  Did  I  not  see  it  in  the  Orthodox 
Review?" 

"  No,"  said  the  doctor,  breaking  out  for  the  first  time 
in  a  hearty  laugh.  "  It  was  offered  to  that  Review,  but 
they  considered  it  so  awfully  un-orthodox  that  they  sent 
it  back  post  haste,  as  if  fearing  it  would  spread  conta 
gion  through  their  whole  establishment." 

"Why,  Dr.  Lockett,"  exclaimed  Dr.  Samply,  I 
thought  you  had  the  reputation  of  belonging  to  the 
strictest  sect  of  the  Orthodox." 

"  I  thought  so,  too,  until  I  wrote  that  article.  Indeed, 
before  sending  it  to  the  Orthodox  Review,  I  read  it  to 
several  brethren,  also  considered  of  the  strictest  sect, 
and  they  detected  no  heresy.  Indeed,  one  of  the 
brethren  was  so  enraged  at  what  he  termed  the  stupid 
mistake  of  the  Review  people  that  he  insisted  upon  my 
sending  it  to  the  Mental  Monthly.  They  published  it 
at  once,  and  it  has  been  widely  copied  in  both  religious 
and  secular  papers." 

"  Please  give  us  the  main  points  of  your  article," 
said  Dr.  Samply. 

"  If  you  have  patience  to  hear  it,  I  will  narrate  a 
history  which  led  to  the  writing  of  that  article." 

"  Certainly,"  said  Dr.  Samply.  "  Let  us  hear  how 
Dr.  Lockett  got  numbered  among  the  heretics." 

"  I  was  one  day,"  began  Dr.  Lockett,  "  hastily 
summoned  to  visit  a  dying  member  of  my  church. 
She  was  a  devoted  Christian  and  belonged  to  a  family 
of  sincere  Christians.  I  was  sent  for  because  the 


322  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

doctors  had  informed  her  that  she  could  not  live  out 
that  day.  Indeed,  mortification  had  set  in  and  her 
system  refused  to  respond  to  medicines.  She  had 
made  all  her  preparations  for  death  and  called  me  in, 
as  her  pastor,  simply  with  the  view  of  the  comfort  it 
would  afford  her  dying  hour  to  have  prayer  offered  and 
the  promises  of  God's  word  repeated.  With  that 
object  in  mind  I  went  to  visit  her,  and,  after  prayer, 
bade  her  good-bye,  not  expecting  to  see  her  again 
till  we  met  in  heaven.  As  I  sat  pondering  the  case 
that  night  in  my  study,  the  thought  suddenly  came 
to  me,  '  You  never  uttered  a  prayer  for  her  recovery.' 
'  But  why  should  I  have  done  so  ?  '  I  asked  myself.  '  She 
has  been  attended  by  competent  physicians  and  they 
declare  that  her  disease  has  reached  a  stage  where 
medicines  cannot  have  the  slightest  effect.  Is  not  this 
an  indication  that  it  is  God's  purpose  to  remove  her  to 
Heaven?'  But  then  the  question  arose,  'Are  God's 
purposes  to  be  interpreted  by  the  want  of  success  of 
medicines?  Does  it  follow,  because  medicines  will  not 
cure  the  sick,  that  prayer  for  their  recovery  can  be  of  no 
avail?'  But  the  thought  occurred,  'Is  it  right  to  strive 
to  detain  on  earth  one  so  well  fitted  for  Heaven?  Is  it 
not  better  for  her  to  depart  and  be  with  Jesus?'  for  I 
recalled  what  Paul  said  to  the  Philippians,  — '  Having 
a  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far 
better.'  Still,  Paul  adds,  '  Nevertheless,  to  abide  in  the 
flesh  is  more  needful  to  you,  and,  having  this  confidence, 
I  know  that  I  shall  abide  and  continue  for  your 
furtherance  and  joy  of  faith.'  Now,  while  it  might  be 
better  for  this  sick  one  to  depart  to  Heaven,  is  it  not 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  323 

better  for  the  '  furtherance  and  joy  of  faith '  of  others 
that  she  should  '  abide  in  the  flesh?'  For  here  is  a 
mother  with  two  young  children  peculiarly  dependent 
on  her  care  and  instruction,  with  a  husband  who  needs 
her  help  in  bringing  up  his  family.  May  not  we 
assume  that  it  might  be  better  for  her  to  abide  longer 
on  earth?  'I  wish,  at  least,'  I  said  to  myself,  'I  had 
prayed  to  God  to  spare  that  woman's  life.'  But  then 
the  thought  recurred,  '  Would  it  not  have  been  regarded 
as  the  utmost  fanaticism,  when  her  physicians,  and  able 
ones,  too,  declare  her  case  beyond  recovery? ' 

"  I  visited  the  house  the  next  morning,  expecting  to 
find  crape  on  the  door-bell,  but  none  was  there,  for  the 
lady  whom  the  doctors  had  thought  would  die  hours 
before  was  still  living.  I  returned  to  my  home  in  a 
fearful  struggle  of  mind.  I  had  not  had  courage  that 
morning  to  propose  prayer  for  the  recovery  of  the  lady, 
though  I  prayed  in  general  terms  that  l  if  it  be  possible 
this  cup  might  pass  from  her.'  It  was  simply  that 
genteel  mine  dimittis  in  pace  which  we  clergymen  often 
give  to  our  dying  parishioners.  But  I  could  not  rest 
and,  on  returning  home,  went  to  my  closet  and  there  did 
most  earnestly  plead  for  her  recovery,  at  the  same  time 
confessing  my  sin  before  God,  in  that  I  had  not  had 
boldness  to  try  to  induce  others  to  pray  with  me  for  the 
recovery  of  that  sick  one.  I  went  down  to  her  house 
on  the  next  day.  The  lady  was  still  alive,  but  the 
doctors  said  it  was  simply  one  of  those  cases  of  death 
where  the  tenacity  of  life  prolongs  the  dying  agonies. 

"  I  determined  to  wait  no  longer.  I  called  the  family 
together  and  said,  '  I  want  to  know  whether  you  are 


324  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

willing  to  join  with  me  in  prayer  for  the  recovery  of  this 
sick  one.  You  are  all  the  professed  people  of  God. 
He  has  told  us  in  His  Word  that  'if  two  of  you  shall 
agree  on  earth  as  touching  anything  that  they  shall  ask, 
it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my  Father  which  is  in 
Heaven.'  He  has  also  told  us  that  'the  prayer  of  faith 
shall  save  the  sick.'  I  want  you,  however,  to  clearly 
understand,  that,  while  we  attempt  to  offer  this  petition 
in  faith,  we  should  also  recognize  the  superior  wisdom  of 
God.  We  will  therefore  not  attempt  to  dictate  to  Him. 
We  will  lay  the  sick  one's  case  before  Him,  stating  the 
arguments  which  seem  to  us  can  be  urged  for  her 
recovery;  for  example,  the  importance  of  her  living 
yet  longer  for  the  sake  of  her  husband  and  children, 
the  glory  which  God  might  get  to  His  own  name  by 
showing  how  He  could  recover  the  sick  when  human 
skill  has  failed,  the  power  that  lies  in  Christ  to  heal  the 
sick,  which  He  evinced  on  earth,  and  the  willingness 
He  then  evinced  to  heal  the  sick  when  friends  applied 
to  Him  in  their  behalf.  We  will  ask  Him  to  spare 
our  friend,  not  merely  to  gratify  our  desire  to  retain 
her  on  earth,  but  for  the  benefit  her  prolonged  life 
might  bring  to  others.  We  will  also  ask  God  to  bless 
and  direct  the  earthly  physicians  so  that  they  may  use 
proper  remedies  for  her  recovery.' 

"  To  my  surprise  the  family  not  only  acceded  to  the 
proposition,  but  seemed  anxious  for  prayer  to  be  thus 
offered.  I  believe  if  ever  a  circle  of  believers  lifted  up 
united  prayer  with  fervent  desire  it  was  offered  at  that 
time." 

"  Well,  what  was  the  result?  "  asked  Dr.  Samply. 


OR,   THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  325 

"  I  can  only  say,"  replied  Dr.  Lockett,  "  that  a  change 
for  the  better  began  that  day.  The  medicines  com 
menced  to  have  effect,  and  that  lady  is  now  living  in 
sound  health."  * 

"This  case  set  me  to  thinking  on  the  whole  relation 
of  a  Christian  faith  to  the  diseases  of  the  body.  I 
threw  my  reflections  into  an  article,  in  which  I  attempted 
to  sustain  these  propositions :  First,  that  every  sick 
person  should  take  their  case  to  the  Heavenly  Physician 
as  much  as  to  the  earthly  one ;  second,  that  if  either 
ought  to  have  priority  it  should  be  the  Maker  of  the 
body  over  its  mender;  third,  that  Christians  have  so 
unconsciously  drifted  toward  materialism,  that  the  first 
thought  of  most  when  sick  is  to  go  to  the  drug  store  or 
the  physician,  and  often  it  is  not  until  they  get  danger 
ously  ill  that  they  begin  to  ask  for  the  prayers  of  the 
church,  the  Heavenly  Physician  being  used  as  a  sort  of 
forlorn  hope.  I  therefore  suggested  whether  it  was  not 
well  for  the  church  to  call  a  halt  and  inquire,  *  Is  there  no 
balm  in  Gilead?  Is  there  no  Physician  there?  Why, 
then,  is  not  the  health  of  the  daughter  of  my  people 
recovered?'"  f 

"  But  what  has  all  this  to  do  with  Christian  Science  ?  " 
asked  Dr.  Samply. 

"  Why,  just  before  the  event  narrated  I  met  with  a 
Christian  Scientist.  I  paid  very  little  attention  to  her 
theories,  except  to  study  them  as  a  matter  of  curiosity, 
but.  this  case  led  me  to  re-examine  them,  and, 
though  I  find  in  their  teachings  much  loose  theology 

*The  case  thus  described  agrees  in  all  points  with  one  which  came  under  my 
own  observation.— THE  AUTHOR. 
f  Jeremiah  viii,  23. 


326  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

and  many  impracticable  methods,  yet  I  have  been 
impressed  with  this,  —  that  what  these  people  are  really 
aiming  at,  that  is,  the  Christ-believing  portion  of  them, 
is  to  make  people  realize  what  a  power  still  abides  in 
Christ  for  the  healing  of  both  soul  and  body.  Some  of 
them  have  gained,  at  least,  a  perception  of  what  man's 
body  might  be  if  it  was  only  filled  with  the  spirit  of  God. 
I  am  inclined  to  treat  them  kindly,  with  the  hope  that 
the  attention  they  are  calling  to  this  subject  may  lead 
men  to  investigate  more  what  Christ  is  and  what  he  is 
willing  to  do  for  poor,  suffering  humanity.  I  am  not 
afraid  of  these  Christian  Scientists  working  harm  by 
such  tenets  as  '  Disease  is  an  error '  and  '  There  is  no 
such  thing  as  matter.'  The  stubborn  facts  of  life  give 
abundant  proof  that  disease  is  a  reality  and  matter  a 
tangible  substance.  But  I  thank  God  that,  while  we 
have  doctors'  signs  and  drug  stores  on  almost  every 
square,  to  refresh  our  minds  with  the  fact  that  man's 
body  needs  medicine,  some  one  has  arisen  to  jog  our 
memories  with  the  fact,  that  besides  and  above  all  these 
man  needs  the  Great  Physician." 

Mr.  Bruce  had  been  listening  with  such  intense 
interest  to  Dr.  Lockett  that  it  attracted  the  attention  of 
Mortimer.  As  soon  as  the  doctor  had  finished,  Mr. 
Bruce  said,  "  Perhaps,  then,  you  brethren  will  not 
consider  me  unorthodox  if  I  state  a  case  that  came 
under  my  own  observation.  My  wife  was  sick  with  Hay 
fever,  which  she  yearly  suffers  from.  A  Christian 
Scientist  came  to  my  house,  —  a  young  lady,  a  perfect 
stranger  to  us,  but  under  her  treatment  my  wife  has 
perfectly  recovered." 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGE1A.  327 

"What  is  her  name ?"  demanded  Mortimer,  becom 
ing  excited. 

"  Singularly,  I  cannot  tell  you,"  answered  Mr.  Brace. 
"  But  why  are  you  so  interested,  Mr.  Mortimer?  " 

"  Because  I  am  here  looking  for  a  young  lady  who  is 
a  Christian  Scientist,  and  much  depends  on  my  finding 
her." 

"  Well,  I  will  tell  you  all  I  know  about  this  young 
lady.  I  have  been  compelled  lately  to  rent  a  room  in 
my  house,  and  had  advertised  it  in  the  papers.  A  few 
weeks  ago  a  lady  of  very  genteel  appearance  came  to 
our  house  and,  after  looking  at  the  room,  engaged  it. 
She  seemed  especially  pleased  to  find  it  was  the  home 
of  a  clergyman.  I  asked  her,  of  course,  for  her  refer 
ences.  She  answered,  '  I  have  none,  for  I  am  a  perfect 
stranger  in  this  city.  I  came  here  on  a  private  matter 
of  great  importance  to  myself  and  had  hoped  to  obtain 
employment,  but  so  far  have  failed,  except  to  get  some 
copying.  I  have,  however,  money  enough  left  to  at 
least  pay  room  rent  in  advance  for  a  month.  I  ask  you 
to  let  me  stay,  and  give  you  as  my  only  reference  —  God. 
If  you  find  that  He  gives  me  strength  to  live  as  a  child 
of  His,  keep  me  ;  if  not,  turn  me  out.' 

"  I  looked  at  the  pure,  innocent  face  of  that  young  girl 
and  could  not  but  feel  that  I  was  standing  in  the  presence 
of  one  whom  God  had  given  his  angels  charge  over. 
I  consulted  with  my  wife,  and  we  agreed  to  let  her  stay. 
We  soon  found  we  were  indeed  entertaining  an  angel 
unawares.  I  have  never  met  a  more  devoted  Christian. 
She  spends  all  the  time  she  can  spare  from  her  writing 
in  visiting  the  sick  among  the  poor.  One  day,  when 


328  RUTH,    THE   CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

my  wife  was  suffering  from  her  usual  attack  of  Hay 
fever,  she  asked  permission  to  try  what  she  termed  '  a 
silent  treatment.'  My  wife  was  relieved  and  has 
continued  since  without  an  attack.  This  led  us  to 
converse  with  her  on  her  Christian  Science " 

Mortimer  could  stand  it  no  longer.  He  rose  abruptly, 
saying,  "  Mr.  Bruce,  may  I  speak  to  you  for  a  moment 
in  my  private  room?  "  As  soon  as  they  were  alone  he 
exclaimed,  "  Mr.  Bruce,  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the 
lady  you  have  just  described  is  the  one  I  am  looking 
for,  but  why  cannot  you  tell  me  her  name?  " 

"I  was  about  to  state,"  answered  Mr.  Bruce,  "when 
you  called  me  aside,  that  she  asked  as  a  favor  that  we 
should  not  ask  her  name,  but  simply  call  her  '  Sister.' 
My  wife,  however,  though  she  will  give  me  no  reason  for 
her  impression,  insists  that  her  name  is  Ruth  Morton." 

"Thank  God!"  ejaculated  Mortimer.  "Ruth  is 
found  at  last !  "  Then,  grasping  Mr.  Bruce's  hand,  he 
said,  "  You  have  indeed  done  one  of  the  noblest  deeds 
of  your  life  in  giving  shelter  to  this  lady  on  her  simple 
reference  —  God.  I  feel  that  a  man  who  shows  such  a 
Christian  spirit  can  safely  be  trusted  with  my  secret." 
Mortimer  then  related  to  Mr.  Bruce  the  whole  history 
of  Ruth  and  himself.  Mr.  Bruce  became  deeply  inter 
ested  and  invited  Mortimer  to  at  once  go  with  him  to 
his  home  to  see  Ruth. 

"No,"  said  Mortimer,  "let  me  first  call  Mrs.  Esther 
Bates,  a  Christian  lady  who  has  accompanied  me  on 
this  journey.  I  promised  her  that  she  should  see  Ruth 
first,  and  I  now  see  the  wisdom  of  this  plan.  She  will 
prepare  Ruth  for  our  interview." 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  329 

Esther  was  in  transports  of  joy  when  Mortimer 
announced  the  discovery  of  Ruth.  "  I  felt  all  along," 
she  said,  "  that  God  would  answer  our  prayers."  Esther 
went  immediately  with  Mr.  Bruce  to  his  home.  Finding 
that  Ruth  was  in  her  room,  she  went  up  and  knocked 
at  its  door.  Ruth,  supposing  it  was  the  servant,  simply 
responded,  "  Come  in."  Esther  entered.  Ruth  was 
sitting  at  the  window  in  deep  meditation.  Ruth  turned, 
sprang  to  her  feet  and  threw  herself  into  Esther's  arms. 
Even  Christian  Science  could  not  control  nature's 
emotions.  She  lay  weeping  there  for  some  time,  then 
gasped  out,  "  Thank  God  you  have  come  !  Oh,  Esther, 
what  I  have  gone  through !  But  what  brought  you 
here  and  how  did  you  find  me?  " 

Esther  answered,  "A  friend  who  loves  you  more 
intensely  than  I  do  brought  me  here." 

"  Yes,"  said  Ruth,  "  it  was  God.  I  knew  He  would 
not  forsake  me." 

"  But  God  uses  human  instruments,"  said  Esther. 

Ruth  looked  at  Esther  with  an  anxious  look,  and 
said,  "You  cannot  mean  William  Mortimer  sent  you 
after  me.  Oh,  Esther,  did  he  believe  that  I  was 
innocent  in  this  whole  transaction?  " 

"  Yes,  perfectly  so." 

"  Thank  God  !     Then  I  can  now  die  happily." 

"  No,  no,  Ruth,  do  not  talk  of  dying.  You  may  have 
just  begun  the  happiest  part  of  your  life." 

"  Ah,  Esther,  I  have  nothing  now  to  live  for.  If  it 
be  God's  will  I  would  rather  leave  this  sorrowful  earth, 
but,  if  not,  then  stay  with  me  till  I  can  get  some 
employment." 


330  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

"But,  Ruth,"  said  Esther,  "you  have  not  asked  me 
about  Mr.  Mortimer.  Are  you  not  anxious  to  know 
how  he  feels  toward  you  after  this  discovery.  ?  " 

"  Esther  Bates,"  said  Ruth,  looking  sternly  at  her, 
"  if  you  be,  as  I  believe,  my  true  friend,  never  mention 
to  me  again  the  name  of  William  Mortimer.  My  only 
anxiety  is  that  he  should  not  blame  me  in  this  matter. 
I  realize  fully  that  he  and  I  must  part  forever.  I  hope 
it  was  not  wrong  in  me  that  in  my  innocence  and 
ignorance  I  loved  him  as  a  brother." 

"  But,  Ruth,"  said  Esther,  "  why  not  continue  to  love 
him?  I  know  that  he  loves  you  just  as  much,  yea, 
more  than  he  ever  did  before.  Ruth,  I  sincerely  believe 
that  William  will  himself  sink  into  a  decline  if  you  are 
now  to  be  forever  separated." 

"  Esther,  stop  !  "  said  Ruth.  "  I  tell  you  I  can't  bear 
one  moment  to  think  of  William  Mortimer.  The  only 
peace  I  have  is  to  banish  him  from  my  mind." 

"  Ruth  Morton,"  said  Esther,  affectionately  putting 
her  arms  around  her,  "  I  want  to  ask  one  favor  of  you 
in  return  for  all  I've  tried  to  do  for  you  in  the  past. 
Promise  that  you  will  grant  it." 

"  But  first  tell  me  what  it  is,"  said  Ruth. 

"  No,  I  feel  that  I  am  right  in  extracting  the  promise 
first." 

"  Well,  Esther,  I  have  so  much  faith  in  your  wisdom 
and  your  love  for  me  that  I  will  promise  you." 

"  Solemnly?  "  asked  Esther. 

"  Yes,  solemnly,  in  the  sight  of  God." 

"  I  want  you,  then,  to  promise  me  that  you  will  see 
William  Mortimer  before  this  day  closes." 


OR,    THE   NEW   HYGEIA.  331 

"Why,  Esther,  you  are  crazy.  Do  you  realize  that 
Mr.  Mortimer  is  in  Europe  and  I  in  America?" 

"No,  I  realize  that  William  Mortimer  is  in  San 
Francisco,  almost  dying  with  impatience  to  see  Ruth 
Morton." 

Esther  then  detailed  the  history  of  Mortimer's  return 
and  his  search  for  Ruth,  also  the  proofs  he  had  found 
of  there  being  no  relationship  between  them. 

"What  then  does  he  want  to  see  me  about? "said 
Ruth. 

"  That  he  must  answer  for  himself,"  said  Esther,  with 
a  significant  smile.  "  Oh,  you  foolish  girl !  do  you 
think  a  man  would  put  himself  to  all  the  trouble  that 
William  Mortimer  has  to  find  a  young  lady  unless  he 
has  something  important  to  tell  her?  Ruth,  cannot  you 
see  how  William  Mortimer  loves  you?" 

"  Oh,  Esther,  don't  let  me  meet  William  Mortimer. 
I  do  not  think  I  could  stand  it." 

"But,  Ruth,  you  have  solemnly  promised  me  to  meet 
him  and  I  hold  you  to  your  promise,  for  I  know  he  has 
his  very  soul  bound  up  in  the  purpose  of  making  you 
his  wife." 

"  Then  I  must  refuse  him,"  said  Ruth,  decidedly. 

"  Well,  at  least  see  him  and  tell  him  that  yourself," 
said  Esther,  "  for  I  now  go  to  bring  him." 


332  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

A  NEW   APPLICATION   OF  THE   MIND-CURE. 

Esther  hurried  back  to  the  hotel  and  found  Mortimer 
waiting  impatiently  for  her.  "  What  kept  you  so  long  ?  " 
he  demanded. 

"  I  was  trying  to  persuade  Ruth  to  see  you." 

Mortimer  looked  disappointed,  but  earnestly  asked, 
"  Esther,  do  you  think  Ruth  would  refuse  me,  if  I  now 
ask  her  to  become  my  wife  ?  " 

"  You  must  ask  and  find  out  for  yourself,"  said  Esther, 
cautiously. 

"Then  take  me  to  her  at  once." 

"Wait,"  said  Esther,  —  "William  Mortimer,  you 
made  me  a  solemn  promise  that  you  would  first  let  me 
tell  you  something  before  meeting  Miss  Morton." 

"  Well,  speak  it  out  quickly,"  said  Mortimer,  "  for  I 
can't  stand  this  suspense  much  longer." 

"  Mortimer,"  said  Esther,  "  I  want  you  before  having 
a  meeting  with  Ruth,  which  may  result  in  your  spending 
the  rest  of  your  lives  together,  to  ask  yourself  this 
question,  *  Do  I  know  my  own  heart  sufficiently  to  thus 
bind  myself  to  Ruth  Morton?"' 

"  I   only  know,"  said   Mortimer,  solemnly,   "  that  I 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  333 

love  Ruth  with  the  most  intense  affection,  so  much  so 
that  my  whole  future  life  seems  suspended  on  her 
consent." 

"  But  you  must  remember  that  you  once  thought 
you  loved  Alice  Dupont  with  the  same  fervor." 

"  Never,  never,"  said  Mortimer,  emphatically,  "  I 
never  felt  to  Alice  Dupont  as  I  do  to  Ruth  Morton ;  that 
was  a  sort  of  first-love  romance,  which  was  only 
nontinued  afterward  from  a  sense  of  duty.  My  love  to 
Ruth  will  be  continued  by  my  abiding  affection." 

"  Why,  then,  were  you  so  affected  by  the  sight  of 
Alice's  picture,  and  again  by  your  meeting  her  at  the 
Deschiell's  party?" 

"  Oh,  you  provoking  woman,"  said  Mortimer,  "  let 
me  go  to  Ruth,  I  will  explain  all  this  at  another  time." 

"  No,"  said  Esther,  firmly,  "  remember  you  solemnly 
promised  me  not  to  see  Ruth  till  I  had  a  talk  with  you ; 
answer  me  first,  —  why  did  you  have  all  these  changeful 
experiences  with  Miss  Dupont  and  yet  expect  to  escape 
them  with  Ruth  Morton  ?  " 

"  Well,  if  you  force  me  to  answer,  you  force  me  also 
to  confess,  —  yet  I  acknowledge  I  cannot  explain  my 
confession;  but,  Esther  Bates,  somehow  since  the  first 
time  I  met  Ruth,  her  image  has  never  been  out  of  my 
mind.  I  believe  the  paroxysm  of  apparently  revived 
affection  for  Alice  Dupont  was  really  the  intense  under 
tone  of  love  for  Ruth,  so  that  the  sight  of  Alice's 
picture  revived  not  so  much  her  memory  as  it  did  the 
hidden  current  of  love  in  my  heart  for  Ruth.  I  cannot 
tell  you  how  impatient  I  felt  to  have  that  relationship 
established,  and  I  cannot  express  the  secret  disappoint- 


334  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

ment  I  felt  that  she  was  to  be  only  a  sister.  Give 
me  Ruth,  or  rather  let  her  give  her  heart  to  me,  and 
you  will  find  that  the  course  of  our  love  will  never  be 
interrupted." 

"  I  am  satisfied,"  said  Esther,  "  come,  William,  and 
meet  Ruth  Morton." 

Ruth  while  awaiting  Mortimer's  visit  had  solemnly 
determined  to  receive  him  courteously,  to  thank  him 
for  his  kindness,  and  then  announce  to  him  her 
unchangeable  determination  to  never  see  him  again. 
She  also  determined  if,  as  Esther  had  hinted,  Mortimer 
made  the  proposal  that  she  should  become  his 
wife,  to  show  him  that  it  was  not  for  his  own  best 
interests,  and  that  she  was  proving  her  unselfish  regard 
for  him  by  refusing  his  offer ;  for  this  she  thought  was 
the  only  way  to  hush  society's  gossip,  and  let  Mortimer 
pursue  uninterruptedly  his  successful  career  as  a 
lawyer.  What  a  pity,  she  said  to  herself,  it  would  be 
to  have  such  a  noble  man  as  William  Mortimer  burdened 
with  a  wife  whose  history  has  already  been  the  theme 
of  a  thousand  tongues.  For  already  the  story  of  the 
discovery  of  the  lost  paper,  and  of  Ruth's  identification 
as  Mortimer's  sister,  had  leaked  out;  Dr.  Strong  had 
told  it  to  Alice  Dupont  under  the  bond  of  the  most 
solemn  secrecy,  fortified  by  the  fact  that  it  was  a  part 
of  that  solemn  secrecy  which  always  exists  between 
lovers.  Alice,  as  a  faithful  daughter,  not  yet  married 
and  therefore  owing  obedience  first  to  her  parents,  had 
confided  it  to  her  mother ;  and  her  mother  as  a  faithful 
wife  who  should  have  no  secrets  from  her  husband  had 
confided  it  to  Mr.  Dupont,  and  Mr.  Dupont  as  a  faithful 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  335 

partner  in  the  firm  of  Dupont  &  Co.,  had  confided  it  to 
his  firm ;  and  thus,  dear  reader,  you  see  that  through 
the  very  faithfulness  of  mankind  this  secret  was  borne 
on  the  wings  of  the  wind  and  dropped,  with  a  hundred 
explanations,  additions,  subtractions  and  multiplications, 
into  the  ears  of  New  York  society ;  yet,  lest  that  already 
monopolizing  metropolis  should  claim  any  merit  in  this 
respect,  let  it  be  clearly  understood  that  the  same 
method  is  practised  in  all  other  cities  of  the  United 
States,  yea,  for  all  that,  in  its  villages.  It  was  this  fact, 
as  well  known  to  Mortimer  as  to  Ruth,  that  made  her 
think  she  could  present  a  last  and  convincing  argu 
ment  against  their  marriage. 

Another  thought  reinforced  this  purpose  of  Ruth  — 
had  she  not  a  special  mission  for  the  cause  of  Christian 
Science?  To  it  she  felt  indebted  for  the  sustaining 
power  which  had  carried  her  through  her  late  deep  and 
varied  trials.  "  I  have  tested,"  argued  Ruth,  "  the 
truth  of  the  great  principle  it  proclaims,  that  He  who 
is  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  life  can  so  fortify  the  soul 
with  His  abiding  presence  that  it  can  triumph  over  all 
evils  within  and  without.  Yes,  my  mission  is  not  to  be 
the  wife  of  William  Mortimer,"  —  and  she  unconsciously 
heaved  a  sigh,  —  "but  to  be  a  humble  teacher  of 
Christian  Science."  Such  were  Miss  Ruth  Morton's 
cogitations  as  she  awaited  the  coming  of  William 
Mortimer. 

Mortimer  was  occupying  his  mind  with  very  different 
thoughts,  he  was  concocting  a  peculiar  plan  of  assault 
on  Ruth's  heart.  He  fully  appreciated  that  heart  was 
prepared  to  withstand  an  open  attack,  and  therefore 


33^  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

quietly  arranged  for  a  flank  movement.  Mortimer's 
sagacity  had  already  served  him  many  a  good  turn  in 
law,  but  it  was  now  to  be  utilized  in  the  rather  different 
practice  of  love.  He  walked  silently  by  the  side  of 
Esther,  on  their  way  to  Dr.  Bruce's,  only  interrupting 
the  silence  by  one  remark  — "  Esther,  please  do  me 
this  favor,  enter  with  me  Ruth's  room,  but  leave  it 
when  I  cough  and  drop  my  handkerchief  on  the  floor ; 
but,  if  I  call,  you  be  ready  to  re-enter." 

"  Certainly,  if  you  so  wish,"  said  Esther. 

They  were  met  at  the  door  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bruce, 
to  whom  some  hint  of  the  situation  of  affairs  had  been 
given  by  Esther,  and  who  were  deeply  interested  in  the 
successful  issue  of  Mortimer's  suit.  When  Mrs.  Bruce 
saw  the  handsome  face  and  noble  bearing  of  Mortimer, 
she  became  still  more  interested,  and  as  Mrs.  Bruce 
afterwards  confessed,  "she  never  in  her  life  felt  so 
tempted  to  play  the  eaves-dropper,"  but  to  her  credit 
be  it  said  that  she  went  instantly  to  work  to  divert  her 
mind  by  preparing  some  nourishment  for  Ruth,  for  as 
she  expressed  it,  "  The  poor  child  has  been  through  a 
severe  strain  already,  and  may  utterly  break  down." 
But  Ruth,  as  she  sat  in  the  parlor  awaiting  Mortimer's 
visit,  did  not  look  like  breaking  down.  There  was 
indeed  a  paleness  in  her  usually  rosy  cheeks,  a  slight 
compression  of  her  lips  as  if  the  spirit  within  was 
nerving  the  body  to  its  task  of  duty ;  still,  there  was 
that  serenity  of  face  which  showed  that  the  storm  had 
passed  and  there  was  in  that  soul  a  great  calm.  But 
fidelity  to  the  truth  compels  us  to  state  that,  the  moment 
Mortimer  entered  the  room,  the  storm  again  burst  over 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  337 

that  heart.  Ruth  could  not  but  realize  it  herself,  she 
bent  before  it  for  the  moment  as  the  stalwart  oak  bends 
before  the  sudden  blast,  but  the  very  consciousness  of 
these  feelings  made  her  exert  an  almost  superhuman 
effort  to  collect  herself. 

Mortimer,  on  the  other  hand,  showed  no  embarrass 
ment  or  unusual  agitation.  On  entering  the  parlor 
with  Esther,  he  went  right  up  to  Ruth,  and  with  the 
utmost  nonchalance,  yet  with  his  customary  politeness, 
said,  "  Miss  Morton,  I  have  called  as  soon  as  I  could 
ascertain  your  place  of  residence  here,  for  I  flatter 
myself  that  you  might  be  interested  to  hear  about  my 
trip  abroad,"  and  without  waiting  for  a  reply  Mortimer 
launched  into  a  very  graphic  recital  of  his  European 
tour. 

Ruth  was  completely  taken  by  surprise.  She  had 
expected  that  Mortimer  would  burst  upon  her  with 
protestations  of  affection,  and  overwhelm  her  with 
appeals,  while  here  he  was  sitting  by  her  side,  simply 
as  any  friend  would,  and  talking  of  such  an  unromantic 
subject  as  a  trip  to  Europe.  Somehow  a  feeling  of 
disappointment  rose  in  her  heart.  Mortimer,  however, 
went  on  to  give  Ruth  a  rapid  sketch  of  his  European 
tour.  He  never  even  mentioned  Ruth's  letters,  he 
seemed  to  utterly  ignore  the  very  existence  of  such  a 
person  as  herself.  Esther  looked  on  in  surprise,  "  What 
has  come  over  William?  "  she  said  to  herself;  her  own 
curiosity  became  excited  to  see  how  he  would  manage 
when  he  came  to  the  cause  of  his  sudden  return  to 
America. 

Suddenly   he    stopped    in    his    narration    and    said, 


338  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

"  Excuse  me,  Miss  Morton,  I  forgot  to  thank  you  for 
your  kind  letters,  I  cannot  express  how  much  I  enjoyed 
them,  and  how  I  missed  them  when  they  ceased  coming ; 
I  was  in  great  anxiety  when  Dr.  Strong's  dispatch  came." 

"  Dr.  Strong's  dispatch !  "  exclaimed  Ruth,  for  the 
first  time  speaking,  "  what  do  you  refer  to  ?  " 

Mortimer  then  detailed  how  Dr.  Strong  had  cabled 
him  to  come  right  home,  telling  him  that  something 
terrible  had  happened.  "  I  cannot  describe  to  you, 
Miss  Morton,"  he  added,  "  the  fearful  state  of  suspense 
I  went  through  on  that  eight  days'  voyage,  I  could  not 
get  out  of  my  mind  that  something  awful  had  indeed 
happened  to  you." 

Mortimer  then  graphically  discribed  his  arrival  in 
New  York  and  Dr.  Strong's  and  Esther's  revelation  of 
the  discovery  of  the  paper  that  accompanied  Mrs. 
Page's  will,  which  explained  Ruth's  right  name  and 
parentage.  Here  again  Ruth  forgot  herself  and  ex 
claimed,  "  Oh,  Mr.  Mortimer,  I  hope  you  do  believe 
that  I  was  entirely  ignorant  of  the  facts  that  paper 
disclosed;  this  is  my  only  anxiety  about  this  whole 
matter." 

"Why,  Ruth,"  answered  Mortimer,  "  I  know  you  too 
well  to  doubt  for  a  moment  your  innocence."  (She 
started  when  Mortimer  called  her  Ruth,  but  he  acted 
as  if  he  was  not  conscious  of  having  used  that  name, 
he  was  now  so  in  earnest  with  his  account  that  it  seemed 
as  from  sheer  force  of  habit  it  had  dropped  from  his 
lips).  "  I  believe,  yea,  I  know  that  a  suspicion  of  this 
fact  never  entered  your  mind,  and  therefore  to  establish 
your  innocence  in  the  matter  I  immediately  went  to 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA  339 

work  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  Mrs.  Page's  statement." 

He  then  circumstantially  detailed  his  search  at  St. 
Louis  and  at  Scioto  for  proofs  of  Ruth's  parentage ; 
indeed,  he  added  many  Ruth  herself  had  not  discovered, 
and  at  last  concluded  with,  "Miss  Morton,  I  am  sure 
the  most  complete  and  satisfactory  evidence  is  in 
existence  of  your  being  the  daughter  of  Robert  and 
Elizabeth  Morton.  I  have  also  discovered  that  your 
father  was  a  lawyer,  a  cultured  gentleman,  and  your 
mother  a  refined  lady;  indeed,  they  were  related  to 
one  of  the  best  families  in  England,  and  trace  back 
their  lineage  to  the  Earl  of  Morton.  Why,  Miss 
Morton,"  he  pleasantly  added,  "  I  should  not  wonder  if 
you  yet  find  that  you  can  claim  the  title  of  Lady 
Morton." 

"  I  care  nothing  for  titles,"  said  Ruth,  "  but  I  do 
thank  God  that  the  respectability  of  my  parentage  is 
so  clearly  established." 

Mortimer  had  led  Ruth's  mind  so  far  away  from  what 
she  had  anticipated  as  the  object  of  his  visit,  and  so 
absorbed  her  mind  with  the  subject  of  her  established 
parentage,  that  she  had  insensibly  relaxed  the  watch 
she  had  set  over  herself,  and  thus  it  came  to  pass  that, 
while  listening  to  Mortimer,  her  eyes  gazed  with  a 
wistful  look  of  love  intently  into  his  own.  This  was 
not  unnoticed  by  Mortimer. 

But  he  was  now  coming  to  the  crisis.  His  courage 
almost  failed,  for,  though  he  had  executed  his  flank 
movement  on  Ruth's  mind  and  drawn  off  her  mental 
forces  in  pursuit,  yet  he  had  not  captured  the  citadel 
of  her  will.  One  thing,  however,  he  realized,  —  there 


34°  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN    SCIENTIST, 

could  be  no  pause ;  he  must  now  dash  in  and  win  or 
lose  forever. 

"  Miss  Morton,"  he  said,  with  a  slight  cough,  and  the 
calling  of  her  name  so  fixed  her  attention  on  him  that 
it  enabled  Mortimer  to  drop  his  handkerchief  and 
Esther  to  glide  from  the  room  unnoticed  by  Ruth. 

"  Miss  Morton,  I  think  that  you  will  now  admit  that 
it  is  fully  established  there  is  not  the  slightest  relation 
ship  between  us.  I  therefore  come  to  propose  one  of 
two  things,  which  I  leave  to  your  choice.  The  first  is 
that  we  now  part  forever.  If  this  be  done,  one  thing  I 
insist  on,  —  that  you  retain  the  money  Mrs.  Page  left 
you.  I  have  not  the  slightest  moral  or  legal  claim  to 
it,  and,  unless  you  take  it,  it  will  revert  to  the  state.  I 
shall  never  touch  a  cent  of  it.  I  came  here  partly  to 
tell  you  this." 

"Oh,  no,"  said  Ruth.  "  Mr.  Mortimer,  I  do  not 
want  to  touch  a  cent  of  that  money.  Somehow  it 
seems  to  me  cursed,  there  is  such  a  history  connected 
with  it." 

Still  Mortimer  kept  arguing  the  point  with  Ruth,  so 
that  her  mind  became  completely  engrossed  with  this 
question  of  the  disposal  of  the  money.  All  of  a  sudden 
he  looked  into  her  face  with  the  most  intense  affection, 
and  said,  "  Ruth,  Ruth,  don't  you  know  William  Mor 
timer  enough  to  know  that  what  he  wants  is  not  your 
money  but  your  love?  Oh,  Ruth,  I  do  love  you  with 
an  intensity  that  can  brook  no  denial.  I  have  proved 
this  love  to  myself;  I  cannot  live  without  you.  I  have 
come  these  thousands  of  miles  to  search  for  you  and  to 
ask  you  to  become  my  wife.  If  you  refuse  me,  Ruth, 


OR,    THE    NEW    HYGEIA.  341 

if  you  drive  me  away  from  you  this  day,  you  blast  my 
whole  future  life.  I  now  bring  you  my  second  propo 
sition —  that  Ruth  Morton  shall  become  in  truth  Ruth 
Mortimer." 

Ruth  was  so  taken  by  surprise  that  she  fairly  gasped 
for  breath.  She  became  so  weak  that  she  had  to  cling 
to  the  chair  to  hold  herself  up.  Mortimer  sprang  to 
her  side,  and,  folding  her  in  his  arms,  said,  "  Ruth,  let 
your  own  heart  plead  for  me  now.  Why  should  we  be 
separated?  You  are  the  only  one  I  love.  Come, 
dearest,"  and  he  felt  encouraged  by  her  very  resistless- 
ness,  "  do  not  try  to  keep  asunder  two  hearts  which 
God  has  so  manifestly  joined  together." 

"  Oh,  William,"  said  Ruth,  hiding  her  face  in  his 
bosom,  "you  are  right;  we  cannot  live  without  each 
other." 

Afterward,  resting  there  calmAy,  she  looked  up  into 
his  face,  and  said,  "  I  really  did  mean  to  refuse  you, 
but  somehow  I  couldn't." 

"  Esther  !  "  called  out  Mortimer,  and  Esther,  who  had 
been  waiting  at  the  door,  entered.  When  the  good 
woman  saw  the  situation  of  affairs,  she  for  the  first  time 
in  her  life  went  off  in  a  fit  of  hysterics,  and  fell  to 
hugging  alternately  Ruth  and  Mortimer,  and,  at  last, 
had  actually  to  be  taken  up-stairs  by  Mortimer,  while 
Mrs.  Bruce  was  summoned  to  help  Ruth,  who  was  now 
utterly  exhausted  by  the  conflict  she  had  undergone  in 
both  mind  and  heart.  But,  when  the  sun  set  that  day, 
a  gentle  calm  had  come  over  all  these  troubled  hearts. 

The  next  day  a  quiet  wedding  took  place  in  the 
Bruce  home,  Dr.  Bruce  receiving  a  marriage  fee  sur- 


342  RUTH,    THE    CHRISTIAN   SCIENTIST, 

passing  even  those  supposed  to  be  given  by  California 
millionaires  at  their  own  marriage. 

It  required  some  courage  in  Mortimer  and  Ruth  to 
face  the  curious  gaze  of  society  and  to  endure  its  gossip, 
but  Mortimer's  past  reputation  as  a  man  of  high  honor 
served  him  in  the  present  crisis  of  his  history,  while 
Ruth's  lovely  character  and  useful  life  soon  made  her  a 
host  of  friends,  whose  standing  in  society  was  a  support 
to  her  own  well  merited  respect.  The  story  of  the 
curious  bringing  together  of  Mortimer  and  his  wife  soon 
became  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  their  union  proved,  as 
all  unions  should  prove,  one  of  happiness  and  affection. 
Esther  Bates  continued  to  live  with  them,  they  trying 
to  repay  her  kindness  by  their  attentions  in  her 
declining  years;  she  being  surrounded  with  every 
comfort  which  grateful  love  could  devise. 

The  truthfulness  of  the  chaste  muse  of  history  must 
be  preserved,  even  if  human  expectations  are  sometimes 
disappointed.  Therefore  be  it  stated  that  the  proposed 
marriage  of  Dr.  Strong  to  Alice  Dupont  never  took 
place.  Alice  made  every  effort  to  convert  her  materi 
alistic  suitor,  which  effort  became  an  increasing  annoy 
ance  to  the  doctor,  and  a  breach  was  opened  between 
their  hearts,  widened  by  their  frequent  controversies 
over  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mortimer.  Alice  adhered  to  the 
opinion  that  Ruth  had  from  the  very  first  laid  a  plot  to 
entrap  her  former  lover,  and  denounced  her  as  an 
"  odious  adventuress."  This  was  peculiarly  distasteful 
to  Dr.  Strong,  because  his  respect  for  Ruth  daily 
increased  as  he  watched  the  beautiful  development  of 
her  character  and  the  grace  with  which  she  filled  her 


OR,    THE    NEW   HYGEIA.  343 

new  position.  One  evening  hot  words  passed  between 
the  doctor  and  Miss  Dupont,  the  former,  in  his  irritation, 
saying,  "The  greatest  mistake  of  my  life  was  my 
thinking  that  Ruth  was  all  head  and  no  heart.  The 
wealth  of  pure  love  she  pours  out  on  her  husband, 
which  is  fully  reciprocated  by  him,  proves  her  to  be  a 
beautiful  combination  of  intellectuality  and  affection." 

Alice  fired  up  and  replied,  "  At  any  rate,  some  men 
I  know  are  all  head  and  no  heart." 

A  scene  followed  and  their  engagement  was  broken. 
But  it  proved,  after  all,  what  Esther  Bates  would  term 
"  a  special  providence,"  for  the  life  which  Alice  would 
have  devoted  to  Dr.  Strong  was  henceforth  devoted  to 
doing  good,  and  she  filled  that  honored  place  reserved 
for  these  whose  lives  of  single-blessedness  are  also  lives 
of  blessedness  to  the  church,  the  poor  and  the  sor 
rowing. 

It  should  have  been  mentioned  that,  while  Esther 
was  returning  from  California  with  the  bridal  couple, 
she  drew  Mortimer  aside,  and  said,  "  William,  I  have  a 
great  curiosity  to  learn  how  you  succeeded  so  well, 
after  I  left  you  that  morning,  in  popping  the  question 
to  Ruth  and  inducing  her  to  say  *  Yes.'  Have  you  any 
objection  to  my  knowing?  " 

"  Not  the  least,  Esther,"  said  Mortimer,  laughing. 

"  Well,  how  was  it  done,  then?"  asked  Esther. 

"  Why,  I  simply  tried  on  Ruth  the  mind-cure,  by  first 
drawing  her  attention  completely  from  herself  and  her 
proposed  rejection  of  myself,  and  then  I  tried  a  treat 
ment  as  old  as  the  human  race,  —  the  heart-cure." 


THE  WORKS 


OP 


DR.  W.  F.  EVANS 


THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  MIND  ON  THE  BODY  IN 

HEALTH  OR  DISEASE,  AND  THE  MENTAL 

METHOD   OF    TREATMENT 


On  earth,  there  is  nothing  great  but  Man  : 
In  Man  there  is  nothing  great  but  Mind." 


PUBLISHED  BY 

H.    H.    CARTER    &    KARRICK, 

3  Beacon  Street,  Boston. 
1886. 


MENTAL  MEDICINE: 

A  THEORETICAL  AND  PRACTICAL  TREATISE  ON  MEDICAL 
PSYCHOLOGY. 

By  W.  F.  EVANS. 

This  book  contains  a  full  exposition  of  the  nature  and 
laws  of  Magnetism,  and  its  application  to  the  cure  of  dis 
ease.  

Extra  Clotti.     216  pp.    Retail  Price,  $1.25. 


Sent  by  mail,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  retail  price. 


SOUL  AND  BODY; 

OR, 

THE  SPIRITUAL  SCIENCE  OF  HEALTH  AND  DISEASE. 

By  W.  F.  EVANS. 


Extra  Cloth..    147  pp.    Retail  Price,  $1.00. 


Sent  by  mail,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  retail  price. 


All  the  above  works  of  Dr.  Evans  are  on  the  relation  of 
Mind  and  Body,  and  the  cure  of  disease  in  ourselves  and 
others  by  the  mental  method,  and  are  the  only  publications 
on  the  subject  that  commend  themselves  to  men  of  science 
and  to  thinking  people  everywhere. 


THE  DIVINE  LAW  OF  CURE. 

By  W.  F.  EVANS. 

A  Standard  Work  on  the  Philosophy  and  Practice  of 

the  Mind  Cure,  a  Reliable  Text-Book  in  all 

the  Schools  of  Mental  Healing. 


No  work  has  ever  been  written  of  more  practical  value 
to  physicians  of  all  schools.  The  book  is  the  result  of  the 
extensive  learning  and  research  of  the  author  and  exhibits 
a  familiarity  with  the  literature  of  the  subject.  It  is  pro 
foundly  religious  without  being  offensively  dogmatic.  It 
has  been  received  with  universal  favor  by  all  who  are 
seeking  light  on  the  subject  on  which  it  treats  —  the  cure 
of  disease  in  ourselves  and  others  by  mental  and  spiritual 
agencies. 


Extra  Cloth..     302  pp.     Retail  price,  $1.5O. 


Sent  by  mail,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  retail  price. 


THE  PRIMITIVE  MIND  CURE. 


The  Nature  and  Power  of  Faith; 

OR, 

ELEMENTARY  LESSONS  IN  CHRISTIAN  PHILOSOPHY  AND 
TRANSCENDENTAL  MEDICINE. 

By  W.  F.  EVANS, 
Author  of  "Divine  Law  of  Cure,"  etc. 


This  work  is  a  complete  exposition  of  the  principles  under 
lying  the  system  of  mental  healing.  It  contains  a  full  course 
of  instruction  in  the  philosophy  and  practice  of  the  Mind 
Cure.  It  is  the  most  complete  treatise  on  Christian  The- 
osophy,  in  its  application  to  the  cure  of  both  soul  and  body 
that  was  ever  published.  It  has  elevated  the  subject  into 
the  dignity  of  a  fixed  spiritual  science. 


Extra  Cloth..    225  pp.     Retail  Price,  $1.50. 


Sent  by  mail,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  retail  price. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
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